LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap Copyright No 

Shelf J I 4> 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A SHORT 

INTRODUCTION 

TO 

THE LITERATURE OF THE BIBLE 

BY 
RICHARD G. MOULTON, M.A. (Camb), Ph.D. (Penna.) 

Professor of Literature {in English) in the University of Chicago; Late 

Lecturer in Literature to Cambridge University {Extension), 

and to the London and the American Societies for the 

Extension of University Teaching 

Author of "The Literary Study of the Bible," etc.; Editor of 

"The Modem Reader s Bible " 



BOSTON, U.S.A. 

D. C. HEATH & COl, PUBLISHERS 

1901 



Library of Concrresa 

1 wo Copies Received 1 

FEB 7 1901 

Copyright entry 

SECOND COPY 






Copyright, 1901, 
By RICHARD G. MOULTON. 

Entered at Stationers' Hall. 



Printed in the United States of America. 



PREFACE 

I wish to explain that this volume is not an abridge- 
ment of my other work on The Literary Study of the 
Bible. There is necessarily much in common between 
two treatments of the same topic : but the purposes of 
the two are distinct. The larger work is intended for 
formal students ; it is an illustration of literary mor- 
phology in the field of sacred Scripture. The present 
book is addressed to the general reader, whether more 
or less cultured j it avoids technicalities, and treats the 
matter of the Bible, approaching this from the literary 
side. In what sense I understand the word ' literary ' — 
as distinguished from theological and critical — I have 
sufficiently explained in the opening section. 

Many things have convinced me that we are entering 
upon a new era of popular interest in the sacred Scrip- 
tures. My duties as a lecturer have brought me in con- 
tact with many different types of audiences in different 
parts of England and America. No single thing has 
impressed me more than the commonness of the remark 
— coming usually from persons who were neither unedu- 
cated, nor irreligious — that the Bible (except for a few 
passages) had long been a sealed book to them, but that 
they were taking to it again. We have done almost 
everything that is possible with these Hebrew and Greek 
writings. We have overlaid them, clause by clause, with 
exhaustive commentaries ; we have translated them, re- 
vised the translations, and quarrelled over the revisions ; 



iv PREFACE 

we have discussed authenticity and inspiration, and sug- 
gested textual history with coloured type ; we have 
mechanically divided the whole into chapters and verses, 
and sought texts to memorise and quote \ we. have epito- 
mised into handbooks and extracted school lessons ; we 
have recast from the feminine point of view, and even 
from the standpoint of the next century. There is yet 
one thing left to do with the Bible : simply to read it. 
To give an impetus to this last is the main purpose of 
the present book. 

It may, however, be desired by some to use a work 
of this kind as an assistance in their studies. What help 
I have offered in this way has been reserved for an 
appendix. It is a sound principle that the sustained 
attention necessary for literary reading and appreciation 
should be kept distinct from the attitude of examination 
and reference which is implied in every kind of study. 
Possibly those who merely turn over the pages of this 
appendix may think the reading lists over-elaborate and 
detailed. I would point out that this is so only in 
appearance ; and the reason is that the numbering of 
chapters and verses in ordinary Bibles in no way agrees 
with the actual structure ; which necessitates a re-index- 
ing of the divisions proper for literary study. One who 
uses an edition in which the proper structure is pre- 
sented to the eye will hardly need the help of reading 
lists. In a second appendix I have endeavoured to 
meet the requests I am accustomed to receive for advice 
as to progressive study in biblical literature. 

RICHARD G. MOULTON. 
Chicago, December, 1900. 



CONTENTS 
INTRODUCTION 



PAGE 

The Literary Study of the Bible as Distinct 

from Theology and Criticism i 



PART FIRST 

BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

CHAPTER I 
History and Story . . . . . . 15 

CHAPTER II 
The History of the People of Israel as Pre- 
sented by Themselves 23 

CHAPTER III 
The History of the New Testament Church as 

Presented by Itself 89 

PART SECOND 

BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

CHAPTER IV 
Poetry and Prose in the Bible . . . .121 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER V 

PAGE 

Old Testament Wisdom 130 

CHAPTER VI 
New Testament Wisdom 187 

CHAPTER VII 
Lyric Poetry of the Bible 219 

CHAPTER VIII 
Prophecy as a Branch of Literature . . . 258 

CHAPTER IX 
Old Testament Prophecy 285 

CHAPTER X 
New Testament Prophecy 312 

APPENDICES 

I. Bible Reading arranged to accompany the 

Present Volume 331 

II. Progressive Study in Biblical Literature . 351 

Index of Passages of Scripture . . . .359 
General Index 369 



Introduction 



THE LITERARY STUDY OF THE BIBLE AS 

DISTINCT FROM THEOLOGY AND 

CRITICISM 



INTRODUCTION 

THE LITERARY STUDY OF THE BIBLE AS DISTINCT 
FROM THEOLOGY AND CRITICISM 

It is a purpose of this book to distinguish what will be 
here called the Literary Study of the Bible from other 
studies ; more particularly from theology, and from that 
historical treatment which chiefly at the present time is 
associated with biblical criticism. It may be convenient 
to approach this distinction from the side of illustration. 
I will take the fourth and fifth chapters of Judges, de- 
scribing the oppression of Israel under Jabin king of 
Canaan and their deliverance by Deborah and Barak, as 
a portion of Scripture in which the three treatments may 
well be compared. 

The first type of study accepts the canonical books of 
Scripture as a foundation for theology and a manual of 
devotion. To a student of this order it is a shock to 
find within the sacred volume an incident involving cold- 
blooded assassination with treacherous violation of hos- 
pitality, not brought forward to be denounced, or even 
palliated, but displayed with evident exultation. Such a 
circumstance is calculated to raise the reflection : Is the 
Bible to be understood as a theological system, in which 
every section is a fragment of complete truth ? or does 
the Bible comprise a theological evolution, bringing to 
view immature stragglings after right, as well as its 
complete revelation ? This is not the place to discuss 

i 



2 INTRODUCTION 

such a question : that it is raised by a particular portion 
of Scripture is sufficient illustration of the first study. 

For a second department of Bible study matters of 
history are the chief concern. Who are the authors of 
the books of Scripture ? What periods produced them ? 
Have we the original form in which the books appeared, 
or have they been compiled out of earlier materials? 
What evidence do the different parts of the Bible thus 
carry as to the life of the far past? A student interested 
in questions like these will seize upon the differences 
between the fourth and fifth chapters of Judges, both 
treating the same incident : differences so great that the 
writer of the fifth chapter can hardly be supposed to 
have had the fourth chapter before him. The discus- 
sion will naturally arise as to whether The Book of Judges 
was the original composition of a single author, or whether 
it may not be made up of traditional poems, like the 
Song of Deborah in the fifth chapter, and later history, 
like that of the fourth, with or without an editor to bring 
the parts together. 

The third type I am calling literary study. No doubt 
the word ' literary ' is used in many different senses : 
what I have in mind is the study of the various forms 
of which a literature is made up. When we speak of 
' Greek literature ' or ' English literature ' every one 
thinks of certain dramas, epics, philosophical works, 
histories, poems, stories, and the like, produced by the 
Greek or English peoples. If then the Bible is to be 
called ' literature,' we ought to expect to find in it 
dramas, stories, philosophical works, histories, songs, and 
similar forms of literature. Where these are the chief 
interest of a student he will delight to distinguish, in the 



INTRODUCTION 3 

fourth chapter of Judges plain history, in the fifth an 
outpouring of brilliant lyric poetry. Not only is this 
lyric poetry, but it can be referred to the particular 
species of lyric known as ' ballad ' — a technical term 
implying that musical accompaniment and dance move- 
ments are still in use. To such a literary student the 
mode of performance will not seem unimportant, and in 
the opening words, " Then sang Deborah and Barak," he 
will recognise interchange between a Chorus of Women 
led by Deborah and a Chorus of Men led by Barak. 
Fresh interest is added to every detail of the song when 
its antiphonal structure has thus been caught. The men 
are chanting dolefully — 

In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, 

In the days of Jael, 
The highways were unoccupied, 

And the travellers walked through byways; 
The rulers ceased in Israel, 

They ceased — 

The Chorus of Women break in — 

Until that I, Deborah, arose, 

That I arose a mother in Israel. 

The Chorus of Men call on all ranks of men to rejoice : — 

Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses, 
Ye that sit on rich carpets, 

And ye that walk by the way : — 

the Chorus of Women appeal similarly to all women : — 

Far from the noise of archers, 

In the places of drawing water : — 
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, 

Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel. 



4 INTRODUCTION 

The two Choruses break off to encourage one another : — 

Men. Awake, awake, Deborah, 

Awake, awake, utter a song : — 
Women. Arise, Barak, 

And lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam. 

The mustering of the tribes no longer reads as a mere 
catalogue, but is alive with snatches of spirited rivalry. 

Women. Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in 
Amalek — 

Men. After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples — 

Wo7nen. Out of Machir came down governors — 

Men. And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff — 

Women. And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah — 

Men. As was Issachar, so was Barak : 

All. Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet. 

It appears how one of the tribes changed its mind. The 
men are singing heroically, — 

By the watercourses of Reuben 
There were great Resolves of heart ! 

The women break in, with sarcastic interruption : — 

Why satest thou among the sheepfolds, 
To hear the pipings for the flocks? 

The men change their description by a single word : — 

At the watercourses of Reuben 
There were great searchings of heart ! 

As the song proceeds we have the Chorus of Men telling 
how kings came to fight, the Chorus of Women answering 
that the stars in their courses fought against them : the 
men's song gives to the ear the prancing of the horses in 
the flooded plain, the women burst out with the disap- 
pointment of spectators when one of the allies fails to 



INTRODUCTION 5 

play its part. It is men and warriors who dilate upon 
the more than military hard-heartedness of Jael. 

Blessed above women shall Jael be, the wife of Heber the 
Kenite, 

Blessed shall she be above women in the tent ! 
He asked water, and she gave him milk; 

She brought him butter in a lordly dish. 
She put her hand to the nail, 

And her right hand to the workmen's hammer; 
And with the hammer she smote Sisera, 

She smote through his head, 

Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples. 
At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay : 

At her feet he bowed, he fell : 

Where he bowed, there he fell down dead. 

To the Chorus of Women is left the essentially feminine 

touch of fancying the mother of Sisera awaiting his 

return. 

Through the window she looked forth, and cried, 

The mother of Sisera, through the- lattice, 
"Why is his chariot so long in coming? 

Why tarry the wheels of his chariots? " 
Her wise ladies answered her, 

Yea, she returned answer to herself, 
"Have they not found, 
Have they not divided the spoil? 

A damsel, two damsels to every man; 
To Sisera a spoil of divers colours, 
A spoil of divers colours of embroidery, 

Of divers colours of embroidery on both sides, on the 
necks of the spoil?" 

Both Choruses unite in a final outburst of glory to God. 

So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord : 

But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth 
forth in his might ! 



6 INTRODUCTION 

The literary study of the Bible thus seeks the new light 
which will come into any passage of Scripture when it is 
read in accordance with its exact literary form. So 
described, however, the study is apt to leave on some 
minds the impression that it is something superficial or 
technical, remote in its interest from those who are seek- 
ing the matter and spirit of Holy Scripture. It therefore 
becomes necessary to lay down this fundamental princi- 
ple : That a clear grasp of the outer literary form is an 
essential condition for understanding the matter and 
spirit of literature. There need be nothing to cause sur- 
prise in such a statement. In comparison with the pro- 
found questions of theology, or the far-reaching view of 
the historian, how superficial and trifling appear the nice- 
ties of grammar and syntax ! Yet every one understands 
that to read Scripture with faulty ideas of its grammar 
and syntax would be to run the risk of fundamental 
errors in theological or historical inferences. A similar 
risk is run by those who are seeking to draw theology or 
history out of a scripture of which they have ignored the 
literary structure. 

To take simple illustrations. A reader is using a chap- 
ter of the Bible as a devotional exercise, striving to bring 
home to his heart what he reads as a Divine message. 
He has omitted to note that the portion of Job from 
which he has selected his chapter opened with the words, 
" Then answered Bildad the Shuhite ; " and, in the final 
chapter of the book, God is represented as declaring that 
this Bildad and the other friends of Job "have not 
spoken of him the thing that is right." Thus this devo- 
tional exercise is seeking to realise as God's message the 
words of a speaker whom God himself expressly repudi- 



INTRODUCTION 7 

ates. The mistake has arisen simply from overlooking 
the dramatic form of the book ; in other literature the 
details represent the author's sentiments, in drama they 
represent the sentiments which the author has put into 
the mouth of another, possibly of one who is the oppo- 
site of himself. The author of Job is no more responsi- 
ble for the sentiments of Bildad than Shakespeare is to 
be credited with the horrible thoughts of Iago. 

Or again, suppose The Book of the Prophet Micah is 
being read, and at a particular point (vii. 7) the reader 
is conscious of a total transformation in the spirit of the 
passage, from deep depression to confidence and exulta- 
tion. If the interpreter falls into the prevalent habit of 
looking only to history for explanation of such changes, 
he will probably cry out that the new passage is an ' in- 
terpolation ' from some later age, different in its sur- 
roundings from the gloomier times of Micah ; he will 
follow Wellhausen in saying that between verses 6 and 7 
" there yawns a century." To one who does not ignore 
literary structure it will be evident that what yawns 
between the verses is nothing more than a change in 
dramatic speakers. The prophecy has been introduced 
(vi. 9) by a title-verse : "The voice of the Lord crieth 
unto the city, and the man of wisdom will see thy 
name." In other words, we are led to expect a dra- 
matic scene, in which one of the speakers will be the 
' Man of Wisdom.' Immediately following the title we 
have (verses 10-16) the denunciation and woe with 
which God cries to the city ; next we have the despair 
(vii. 1-6) of the doomed city ; at the critical verse 
the ' Man of Wisdom ' speaks — the righteous man on 
whose behalf God is interposing : — 



8 INTRODUCTION 

But as for me, I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for 
the God of my salvation. . . . Rejoice not against me, O mine 
enemy : when I fall, I shall arise. 

The dramatic scene continues, with natural connection 
of thought, to the end of the prophecy. Thus errors of 
history may be made, as well as mistakes in devotional 
exercises, through inattention to the literary structure of 
what is read. 

It might perhaps be objected that the distinction 
between dramatic and other literature is so broad a 
difference of form that mistakes like those cited would 
not often be made. But the smallest points of literary 
structure may serve as a key to interpretation. The 
ordinary reader would probably think it a finely drawn 
and purely technical question to dispute whether a par- 
ticular passage should be printed in 'asyndetic sentences' 
or in 'the envelope figure.' Yet the determination of 
this point will make a great difference even in a familiar 
passage of 'The Lord's Prayer.' The first part of this 
prayer is usually arranged in entirely independent sen- 
tences : — 

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in 
heaven. 

The same words may be arranged in an ' envelope fig- 
ure,' in which the first and last lines are closely related, 
while what comes between is read in the light of both. 

Our Father which art in heaven : 

Hallowed be thy Name, 

Thy Kingdom come, 

Thy Will be done, 
In earth as it is in heaven. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

According to the first arrangement the words, " in earth 
as it is in heaven," are connected only with the petition, 
"Thy will be done." According to the envelope arrange- 
ment the words must be associated with all three peti- 
tions ; the sense now becomes this: Hallowed be thy 
Name in earth as it is in heaven, Thy Kingdom come in 
earth as it is in heaven, Thy Will be done in earth as it is 
in heaven. So much of force can be brought out of so 
slight a variation of form even in what is so familiar. 

The fundamental connection between the outer struc- 
ture and the inner spirit, while it applies to all literature, 
yet stands in need of special assertion in regard to the 
Bible, owing to extraordinary circumstances connected 
with the transmission of the sacred word. The Bible has 
come down to us as the worst-printed book in the world. 
Not only modern literature, but even such as the literature 
of ancient Greece, if given out in modern times, will be 
printed in a manner which conveys the literary structure 
directly to the eye. If the work be a drama, the speeches 
are separated and the names of speakers inserted ; if it 
be a poem, verse and line divisions will be made ob- 
vious ; in essays or histories there will be at least titles 
and proper divisions into sections. But, though the Bible 
is proclaimed to be one of the world's great literatures, 
yet if we open our ordinary versions we find that the 
literary form is that of a scrap book : a succession of 
numbered sentences, with divisions into longer or shorter 
chapters, under which all trace of dramatic, lyric, story, 
essay, is hopelessly lost. Nor is it difficult to understand 
how this has come about. The Old Testament goes back 
to an antiquity in which the representation of structure 
to the eye had not been invented. The original authors 



10 INTRODUCTION 

were succeeded by rabbinical, and later by monastic in- 
terpreters, to whom we are indebted for their reverent 
care in the preservation of the sacred word, but with 
whom there was no conception of Scripture as literature. 
It was an Age of Commentary, and to the rabbinical and 
mediaeval commentators each separate clause of Scripture 
was enough as a starting point for discussion. From 
their hands, then, the Bible emerged in the form of num- 
bered texts-for-comment ; and for most readers that is 
the form which the Bible still wears. Recovery from a 
tradition of twenty centuries is naturally slow. When 
King James's version of the Bible was made, the scholars 
of that age did not even know that parts of the Bible 
were in verse. The distinction between prose and verse 
in Hebrew was rediscovered a century later. The ' Re- 
vised Lectionary' of the Anglican Church, in our own 
day, took the step of presenting lessons unhampered by 
chapter divisions ; later still the ' Revised Version ' broke 
away from numbered texts, and printed parts of Scripture 
in the form of poetic verse. But it is still left for indi- 
vidual effort, in such works as The Modern Reader's 
Bible, to undertake the task of presenting Holy Scripture 
in the full literary structure which for all other literature 
is a matter of course. It will be clear, then, that the 
Bible student, more than any other, needs the type of 
study which uses literary form as a key to interpretation. 
Three modes of treatment then — theological, his- 
torical, literary — are essential, if our study of the Bible 
is to be adequate. I go on to the observation that, in 
practice, the three studies must be kept distinct. The 
perspective of things in the three is so different, the 
objects sought and the methods followed are so unlike, 



INTRODUCTION 11 

that no good can come of the attempt to carry them on 
together. The endless bickering and disputation, with 
its personal questions and heresy trials, which at the 
present time disturbs the peace of the biblical world, is 
mainly due to the fact that the two studies of history 
and of theology have been allowed to become entangled. 
Questions such as the authorship of Isaiah, or the struc- 
tural origin of the Pentateuch, are, it is admitted, issues 
of historical fact, and by historical methods alone can 
they be properly investigated. Yet in practice every 
stage of the investigation is scanned from varying theo- 
logical standpoints ; party spirit comes in, and one his- 
torical investigator turns into a champion for a creed, 
another has a mission to expose the hollowness of tradi- 
tion. Meanwhile, history has lost the ' dry light ' with- 
out which scientific inquiry is impossible, and theology 
itself suffers in its single-mindedness. It is equally im- 
practicable to mingle in the same treatment literary and 
historic study : the appreciation of what the Bible is, 
and the analytic examination of possible ways by which 
it has become what it is. Take for example The Book 
of Deuteronomy, and assume any one of the competing 
theories as to its history : let it be supposed that the 
book is entirely the composition of the historic Moses, 
and that it represents exactly what took place in his day ; 
or let it be supposed that Deuteronomy is a pious fiction 
of a later age ; or again, that round a nucleus of tradition 
imaginative matter has gathered. How is it possible 
that any one of these theories can affect what is a matter 
of simple literary fact, that our Deuteronomy stands as 
a succession of orations and songs, presenting the Fare- 
well of Moses to the People of Israel ? Yet, in practice, 



12 INTRODUCTION 

perplexing details in the Book of the Covenant — 
an appendix to the Deuteronomic orations — have 
been allowed to thrust out of view altogether the most 
magnificent oratory enshrining the most pathetic of all 
dramatic situations. Let the theologian, the historian, 
the literary interpreter, pursue undisturbed their inde- 
pendent paths of study. We shall know in the event 
how to harmonise ourselves with three aspects of truth. 
But to struggle along a course of three incompatible 
methods will bring us to no goal but that of confusion. 
The present work, then, is devoted to the literary study 
of the Bible in the distinct sense in which I have ex- 
plained the term. Literary classics carry on their surface 
enough of history and of theology for their interpretation ; 
further questions of historic origin, or bearing upon sys- 
tematic theology, belong to other branches of study. 
To read about literature is easy : it is much more difficult 
to read it. The ultimate aim of this book is to assist in 
reading the Bible, such reading being implied as seeks 
the full light that comes from clearly presented literary 
structure. One remark may be added. A man may be 
said to have read a history or a legal document when he 
understands it ; of literature his reading is not complete 
until he has come to love it. This book will have failed 
in its main purpose if it does not give assistance — to 
those who may need assistance — in perceiving that the 
Bible, as it is the most sacred, is also the most interest- 
ing of literatures. 



Part First 

BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 



I. History and Story 

II. The History of the People of Israel as Pre- 
sented by Themselves 

III. The History of the New Testament Church as 
Presented by Itself 



CHAPTER I 

HISTORY AND STORY 
History and Story as Literary Terms 

At the threshold of our subject lies a literary distinc- 
tion of great importance : the distinction between his- 
tory and story. Both are narrative : history is narrative 
addressed to pur sense of record and the explanation of 
things, story is narrative appealing -directly to the imagi- 
nation and emotions. There is much misconception on 
this subject. It is usually supposed that story is imagi- 
nary incident : in reality, it is incident that is addressed 
to the imagination. Invented matter cannot be part of 
history ; but the converse of this is not true, for matter 
of fact can perfectly well be worked up into the form of 
story. The question is not as to the nature of the mat- 
ter, but as to the mode in which it is narrated. 

The distinction can be well appreciated by one who 
reads continuously through The Book of Genesis. He 
feels the literature he is following shift its character 
backwards and forwards. At times he is occupied with 
strings of ptoper names, that carry him through succes- 
sive generations of men or mutual connections of races ; 
or in a few lines are narrated revolutions that may cover 
centuries. He comes upon the name of Joseph, and it 
is as if a curtain were suddenly lifted : the reader is in 
the midst of real life, warm with human interest' and 
fluctuating passions. 

J 5 



16 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

A strong personality is apparent, making itself felt 
under the most varied circumstances. Joseph is at first 
the clever child of a large family, too untutored in life to 
veil his superiority. With boyish self-consciousness he 
must needs tell his dreams of his brethren's sheaves bow- 
ing down before his sheaf, or of the sun and moon and 
eleven stars doing obeisance ; his brothers envy and 
hate him, his doting father rebukes, but bears in mind 
and looks for further revelations. Opportunity betrays 
Joseph to his brethren away from all help, and they 
prepare to slay him \ opportunity is encountered by 
opportunity, and they are able to sell their brother to 
travellers, and make gain out of revenge. A slave in 
Egypt, Joseph none the less makes his personality felt : 
Potiphar puts his whole household under Joseph's man- 
agement, and knows not aught that is with him save the 
bread which he eats. But the same attractiveness which 
wins men wins women also ; Joseph finds himself entan- 
gled in a false charge and thrown into prison. Yet in 
prison, as everywhere else, Joseph soon rules : whatever 
is done there, he is the doer of it. And when he is by 
marvellous chance delivered and brought before Pharaoh, 
Joseph has not concluded his first speech at court before 
emperor and courtiers are saying, Can we find such a 
one as this, in whom the spirit of God is? 

To character interest other elements of story beauty 
are added in the narrative that centres around Joseph. 
Manners of the primitive home ; pastoral life, with long- 
continued wandering of herds and flocks from station 
to distant station ; mercantile caravans crossing deserts ; 
Egypt with its military organisation, its luxury and in- 
trigue, its underground prison life, its noble river fringed 



HISTORY AND STORY 17 

with the reed-grass out of which monsters may be dreamed 
of as issuing ; court life with its pomp of gold chains and 
fine vesture, and runners crying, ' Bow the knee ' : all 
these varied types of the picturesque are just sketched 
in to make a background for the movement of events. 
The realm of mystery encircling the real world is touched 
in dreams, the fanciful forms of which may be read as 
symbols only half veiling events which are on their way. 
Sudden mutations of fortune are dear to story; and 
Joseph in a single day steps from the slaves' prison to 
the prime minister's throne, while it is given to him to 
be dispenser of food to a starving world. 

But when in the exercise of his office Joseph sees 
his own brethren stand before him, recognised but not 
recognising, then we get one of those double situations 
which are so fertile a source of beauty in story. And 
the situation is developed to the utmost. Joseph is torn 
opposite ways, by desire for righteous vengeance, and 
by reviving affection for kindred seen in the land of 
strangers. Now Joseph plays the foreigner with his 
brethren, speaking to them through an interpreter, while 
he can hear their naive conversation ; now he entangles 
them in cross-examination as to their home affairs ; now 
they find themselves overwhelmed with hospitality, mys- 
teriously arranged at table in the order of their age ; 
again their innocence is caught in strange situations of 
circumstantial guilt. Nor is this merely play. A moral 
effect is at work, as the brethren are given an opportu- 
nity of rising above themselves : from the first they have 
been led to think of their brother whose distress of soul 
they would not hear when he besought them \ they are 
as tender to their father in the temporary loss of Ben- 



18 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

jamin as they were cruel in depriving him forever of his 
loved Joseph ; they had once united to slay or sell one 
brother, now two of their number offer, the one his 
liberty, the other his own children, to secure Benjamin 
for their father's old age. At last the tangle resolves as 
Joseph sobs out that he is the lost brother; and plot 
rises into providence with the reassuring truth that not 
his brethren but God was the disposer of events, who 
permitted the slavery of one to save a world from famine. 
The excitement settles down into happy idyl pictures of 
the migration from Canaan to Egypt : the old father 
fainting at the news of Joseph's life, restored by the sight 
of real wagons sent to convey the family goods. The 
sons become chief herdsmen for the Egyptians. The 
father is presented at the court of Pharaoh, and the 
majesty of the crown bows down before the simpler 
majesty of patriarchal white hairs. 

The reader continues his perusal of Genesis; but the 
curtain has dropped. It is now the intellectual faculties 
to which appeal is made, with economic changes affecting 
the land tenure of Egypt, a few verses raising reflections 
as to consequences that would extend over centuries. 
The difference thus felt between the narrative of Joseph 
and what precedes and follows is just the difference 
between story and history. In other literatures story is 
quite a separate branch of literature, with matter of its 
own, and the verse style usually known as epic. In the 
literature of the Bible the stories are portions of the 
national history, attracted to the prose of historic narra- 
tive. The connection between the two is even closer 
still : story is used as a means of historic emphasis ; and 
the elaborate narrative of Joseph is justified by the posi- 



SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE 19 

tion of the man who is the link between Israel and 
Egypt. 

It may be added that, besides this distinction of 
history and story, a properly printed Bible should keep 
separate to the reader's eye the history itself and the 
statistical or legal documents by which it is supported : 
just as in modern literature a volume of Hallam or 
Macaulay will print in separate type the text and the 
footnotes or appendices. When all proper distinctions 
have been observed, then the reader is in a position to 
appreciate the narrative literature of Scripture : the con- 
tinuous thread of history maintained through half the 
Bible, supported from time to time for those who desire 
it by documentary supplement, but with the spirit of the 
history made impressive for all with a wealth of epic 
stories. 

Scripture Narrative considered as History and as 
Literaticre 

The narrative portions of Scripture will hold a very 
different position in the study of history and in the study 
of literature. The first object of the historian is to 
ascertain the exact facts of the past. To him the his- 
torical books of the Bible are materials upon which he 
is to work. He will sift his materials : inquiring as to 
authorship, age, mode of composition ; discriminating 
different degrees of authority in different parts, according 
as they are the work of contemporary or other writers. 
With all this he will combine material drawn from other 
sources : modern discovery, or documentary matter out- 
side the Bible. In the nature of things his results must 
be ever under revision, as more and more of material is 



20 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

given him to combine. But to the student of literature 
the historical books of the Bible, precisely as they stand, 
remain a literary product of permanent significance ; for 
they are nothing less than the History of the People of 
Israel as Presented by Themselves. 

The distinction for which I am contending can be 
illustrated in other fields. Shakespeare has given us 
plays which touch the history of England. In regard to 
these plays just the same questions arise as in regard 
to books of Scripture. One critic ascribes the plays to 
Shakespeare, others to another author, or to several 
authors in collaboration. One critic accepts the plays as 
history ; another thinks that Shakespeare, careless as to 
exact details of events, has used history as a form in 
which to embody general conceptions of life. It is obvi- 
ous that a number of critics, holding irreconcilable opin- 
ions on these points, might sit side by side in a theatre, 
and find themselves affected in exactly the same way by 
the play as presented on the stage ; it would never occur 
to them to interrupt the performance in order to settle 
whether a detail of the dramatic action was or was not 
in accordance with the latest historic opinion. There 
would be no need to discuss whether the historic study 
or the literary effect were the more important; it is 
enough that the two are distinct. 

But perhaps an objection may be raised to this anal- 
ogy. In regard to the historic books of the Bible where, 
it may be asked, is the Shakespeare? The answer is 
that in this case we have, not the transcendent genius of 
an individual poet, but the national consciousness of a 
great people. For whatever may be the truth as to the 
process by which books of Scripture assumed the form in 



SCRIPTURE NARRATIVE 21 

f 

which we have them, it is not questioned that they rep- 
resent the history as it presented itself to the mind of the 
nation itself. The narrative of Scripture is philosophic 
history, of permanent importance in the world's literature. 
The national consciousness of Israel recognises the 
race as a chosen people, with a mission to be the witness 
of its invisible God to the nations of the earth. The 
first portion of the history, the biblical Genesis, gives us 
what that word implies — the Gradual Formation of the 
Chosen Nation. The next section is The Exodus (the 
biblical Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers), the Emigration of 
the Chosen People to the Land of Promise ; with migra- 
tion goes the gradual evolution into an organised nation, 
and the massing at this point of legal documents makes 
the Constitutional History of Israel. Under the name 
of The Judges (the biblical Joshua, Judges, part of Sam- 
uel) we next distinguish the Grand Transition : a people 
starting with theocracy, the government of an invisible 
God, comes to accept the rule of visible kings copied 
from the nations around. But precisely at the time 
these kings begin there is established a regular order of 
' prophets,' or interpreters for God, representing the old 
idea of theocracy : the fourth period of the history may 
be named as The Kings and The Prophets, a regular 
Government of Kings tempered by an Opposition of 
Prophets. Then comes The Exile : the witnessing of 
Israel .for Jehovah has to be carried on in the land 
of strangers. There return from exile, not the whole 
people, but only those who are devoted to the service of 
God ; not the Hebrew Nation, but the Jewish Church : 
and the final section is thus the Ecclesiastical History of 
The Chronicles. The spirit of the history is throughout 



22 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

made emphatic by story, or at times by fable or song. 
But in addition to the formal historic books we have to 
note two others. Deuteronomy gives us the Orations and 
Songs of Moses, emphasising the crisis of the leader's 
Farewell to Israel. And in Isaiah we find a certain 
dramatic work which, in connection with the deliverance 
from exile, reads a meaning into events such as strikes a 
unity through the whole career of the chosen people : it 
is an Epilogue to the History of Israel. 

What has been said as to the narrative of the Old 
Testament may, with the proper modifications, be laid 
down in regard to certain parts of the New Testament. 
Accordingly, the two chapters that follow will deal with 
The History of the People of Israel as Presented by 
Themselves, and again, with The History of the New 
Testament Church as Presented by Itself. 



CHAPTER II 

THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AS 
PRESENTED BY THEMSELVES 

Prologue to the Old Testament 

The relation between the people of Israel and their 
God is in the Bible expressed by the word ' covenant ' : 
God appears repeatedly as referring to His covenant with 
Abraham, and at successive stages in the history of Israel 
the covenant is renewed. The word ' testament/ which 
in later times has changed its meaning, was in earlier 
English exactly equivalent to ' covenant ' : hence it is nat- 
ural that the sacred literature of Israel should be called 
' The Old Testament,' or covenant between God and his 
ancient people of Israel. 

It might have been expected that this literature should 
commence with the first of the fathers : as a fact, Genesis 
commences long before. But when the eleven chapters 
which precede Abraham are examined, the reason is plain. 
The call of Abraham is not the first example of covenantal 
relations between God and mankind. 

When the origin of all things has been noted in the 
creation of the world, Adam is granted dominion over 
all the earth ; the garden of Eden is given him for his 
abode, and for a sign of obedience is the command to 
abstain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 
This is the covenant between God and the common 
ancestor of men. Then is narrated the eating of the 

23 



V 



24 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

forbidden fruit ; and Adam is driven out of Eden. With 
the slaying of Abel by Cain, the feud of the righteous and 
the wicked has appeared upon earth. Its continuance is 
suggested in the two genealogies that follow. The one 
traces the progeny of Cain to Lamech, the inventor of 
deadly weapons. In the other, Abel is replaced by Seth : 
" then began men to call upon the name of the Lord." 
Descendants of Seth — including Enoch, who "walked 
with God, and he was not, for God took him" — are 
traced to Noah. At that point corruption has reached 
its completeness ; and then, with vivid detail, is pictured 
the flood which sweeps a world away, the household of 
Noah alone preserved in the floating ark. 

With Noah we have a fresh starting point for mankind, 
and a fresh covenant : 

The bow shall be in the cloud : and I will look upon it, that 
I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and 
every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 

The foulness of Canaan's father recommences the history 
of sin, and the Curse of Noah prophesies the feud of 
righteous and wicked nations. 

Cursed be Canaan ; 

A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; 

And let Canaan be his servant. 
God enlarge Japheth, 
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; 

And let Canaan be his sen-ant. 

A genealogical table connects the sons of Noah with the 
nations of the world that were to be ; this is followed by 
the story of the Tower of Babel, in which diversity of 
speech enhances differences of nationality. Another 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 25 

table traces the individual descendants of Noah to 
Abraham. 

Enough has been said to show how the early chapters 
of Genesis serve as prologue to the Old Testament. 
Twice has God entered into covenant with all mankind, 
as represented in a common ancestor; twice the cove- 
nant has been broken, and sin has triumphed. Hence- 
forward a particular people is to be called forth from 
among the nations, and through this chosen people all 
the nations of the earth are to be blessed. 

Genesis ; or, The Formation of the Chosen Nation 

The first division of the history of Israel is occupied 
with the origin of the chosen nation. Abraham is called 
upon to give up his country and kindred, and to go out 
into a new land that is promised to his seed. The de- 
scendants of Abraham are followed through the stage in 
which they are a nomad people, wandering from station 
to station in the Canaan that is hereafter to be their own ; 
when they are a succession of families, living under simple 
patriarchal rule ; until at last they have grown into the 
twelve tribes which never ceased to be the basis of the 
future nation's organisation. 

The main note in the history is the gradual narrowing 
of the succession to the covenant. It was a family mi- 
gration which had started from Mesopotamia : Abraham 
and his kinsman Lot, with their households. When the 
land is no longer able to bear the increased flocks and 
herds, Lot makes his choice for the fertile plains with 
their cities of wickedness, Abraham remains in the 
country districts of Canaan. Lot is entangled in the 



26 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

wars of the cities and taken prisoner ; Abraham comes 
to his deliverance. As the doom of the vile cities is 
approaching Abraham is admitted into the counsels of 
Deity ; in his intercessory prayer for the fifty, the forty 
and five, the forty, the thirty, the twenty, the ten right- 
eous men who may be found in Sodom, we find the 
first example of piety struggling with the mysteries of 
providential judgments. At last we have the exciting- 
story of the destruction of the guilty cities : vice seeking 
to lay hands on the very angels themselves ; Lot and his 
household torn away by force before it is too late ; Lot's 
wife looking back and overtaken by the destruction ; Lot 
himself, with the spectacle of desolation before him, 
clinging to the chance of city life at the point where 
destruction may stop. 1 Thus one of the original emi- 
grants is unfaithful to the career of the chosen people. 
And, by incestuous wedlock, Lot becomes ancestor of the 
Moabites and Ammonites, chief neighbours and foes of 
the future Israel. 

There is a narrowing of the succession even among 
the descendants of Abraham. The long childlessness of 
Sarah brings into prominence the children of the bond- 
woman. There is a glimpse of household strife, persecut- 
ing mistress and mocking maid ; we have the affecting 
story of Hagar in the wilderness going a bowshot away 
that she may not see her child die, and coming upon the 
well ; Abraham is heard crying to God that Ishmael 
might live before him. But the children of the bond- 
woman are not to inherit with the children of the free. 
Ishmael stops short at the nomad type of life, ancestor 
of Bedouin Arabs ; his lot is compared to the wild ass, 2 

i Genesis xix. 20. 2 Genesis xvi. 12. 






THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 27 

untameable, rejoicing in desert solitudes; his hand is 
against every man's and every man's against his, but he 
has no place in the advance of history. 

The long-promised seed appears when to Abraham and 
Sarah in their extreme old age Isaac is born, a son of 
promise, rather than a child according to the flesh. Im- 
mediately we have the strange incident of the offering of 
Isaac. Abraham obeys without question, and passes 
straight to the appointed spot, while the child wonders 
innocently at the absence of a lamb for sacrifice ; with 
wordless submission he is bound on the altar. The lifted 
knife is stayed, but the symbolic act has reached its com- 
pletion : in their ancestor Isaac the future people of 
Israel have been solemnly devoted to their mission. 

In the second generation there is a further falling out 
of the succession. Two children struggle in the womb 
of Rebekah: before they are born the oracular word 
declares that the elder shall serve -the younger. The 
natural course of events is found to fulfil the prediction. 
From the first Esau is attracted to the hunter's ideal. 
Rough in person he is also rough in life; he is full of 
impulses, generous or revengeful, but without the tenacity 
of purpose that makes great nations. In a fit of appe- 
tite he sells his birthright to his younger brother for a 
mess of pottage. He takes a wife from the daughters 
of the land, and is thereby a grief to Isaac and Rebekah. 
At last we have the strange story of the stolen blessing. 
Diversities of the children have led to favouritism on the 
part of the parents : Isaac, on the verge of death, seeks 
to use his patriarchal authority to secure the succession 
for his favourite, Esau, to be proclaimed at a feast of the 
venison his soul loveth; the mother takes advantage of 



28 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Isaac's blindness, and by a trick secures the blessing for 
her pet, Jacob. The father trembles when he discovers 
the fraud, and Esau piteously wails, " Hast thou but one 
blessing? " But the prophetic word cannot be recalled, 
and Isaac has unconsciously ratified the surrender which 
Esau himself had made. Jacob is the lord; for Esau 
nothing can be promised but the occasional rebellion : 
a foreshadowing of Edom, near and bitter neighbours 
to Israel, granted at times to work havoc, but forever 
outside the career of sustained progress. 

Other stories illustrate the providential care that pre- 
serves the pure descent of the coming race. Twice 
Abraham in his timidity disavows his wife, and twice 
miracle preserves Sarah from the princes of the land. 
It is the desire to find a wife for Isaac out of the origi- 
nal kin of Abraham, which gives us the beautiful idyl of 
the wooing of Rebekah: the faithful steward and his 
long journey to Mesopotamia; the prayer by the well; 
the maiden Rebekah unconsciously using the very words 
that are to be the sign of the Lord's choice; the profuse 
hospitality of Bethuel; the steward's refusal to eat until 
his errand has been done; the simple answer, "The 
thing proceedeth from the Lord, we cannot speak unto 
thee bad or good; " the family longing to delay separa- 
tion and the maiden deciding for the immediate jour- 
ney; Isaac receiving his new wife as he is meditating in 
the fields at eventide. Rebekah in her turn uses this 
same necessity of a wife from the homeland as an excuse 
for getting Jacob away from Esau's wrath. But in this 
case instead of idyl we have a prolonged story of adven- 
ture. The hospitable reception of Jacob by Laban is 
diversified with plenty of trickery on both sides : in full 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 29 

detail we are able to watch the building up of a fortune 
and the formation of a large family. Jacob's first night 
of solitude after he had left home, with its dream and 
vow of Bethel, seems to open up to him for the first 
time a spiritual world outside the course of everyday 
life. And on his return journey we have the mystic 
story of struggle with supernatural power, winning Jacob 
*/ the new name 'Israel,' from which the chosen people 
is to be called. The story works up to a breathless 
climax in the meeting with Esau, and the whole future 
of the nation to come trembles in the balance : but a 
wave of generous impulse sweeps suddenly over the 
warrior huntsman, and Israel is saved. 

Other stories, or brief historic notices, explain names 
of places in the promised land, or touch upon peoples 
who are to be neighbours to the future Israel. The 
most important of these stories is the Burial of Sarah. 
In substance, the incident is no more than the purchase 
of a piece of land; but it is told with all the conven- 
tionalities and elaborate courtesies with which the stately 
life of the East clothes even a commonplace transaction. 

And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto 
him, Hear us, my lord : thou art a mighty prince among us : 
in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us 
shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest 
bury thy dead. And Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to 
the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he 
communed with them, saying : If it be your mind that I should 
bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and intreat for me to 
Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of 
Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for 
the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a 
possession of a buryingplace. Now Ephron was sitting in the 



30 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

midst of the children of Heth : and Ephron the Hittite answered 
Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all 
that went in at the gate of his city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear 
me : the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give 
it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it 
thee: bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed himself down 
before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in 
the audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt, 
I pray thee, hear me : I will give the price of the field; take it 
of me, and I will bury my dead there. And Ephron answered 
Abraham, saying unto him, My lord, hearken unto me : a piece 
of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that be- 
twixt me and thee ? bury therefore thy dead. And Abraham 
hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron 
the silver which he had named in the audience of the children 
of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the 
merchant. 

But there is more in this story than may appear at first 
sight. For a people in the nomadic stage there can be 
no point of territorial fixity except the sepulchres of 
their dead. Thus in the incident of Abraham buying 
the cave of Machpelah we have the chosen nation taking 
formal possession of the promised land. 

The climax of Genesis is found in the story of Joseph, 
which with its elaborate literary beauties has already 
been fully treated. The chosen people pass into Egypt, 
and there continue their silent growth. And the blessing 
pronounced from the deathbed of Jacob stamps upon the 
tribes of Israel the varied characteristics which they are 
to retain to the end of their history. 

The Exodus : or, Migration to the Land of Pro?nise 

The Exodus is a story of national emigration. But 
the forty years' passage through the desert appears in 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 31 

the Scripture narrative as also the period in which, 
through the divine legislation of Moses, Israel gradually 
attains the national development which in other peoples 
is called constitutional history. Hence, in this second 
division of biblical literature, the form is a thin thread 
of historic narrative running through and binding 
together the whole constitutional lore of Israel. The 
light of story is focussed upon no more than two points 
of the narrative : it appears at the beginning to display 
the raw material of slaves in Egypt out of which a great 
people may be made; again, in the witness of Balaam to 
a completed process and a nation organised for victory. 
Bible story is nowhere more vivid than in its picture 
of the Plagues of Egypt. The curtain rises on the chil- 
dren of Israel as slaves in a land where once they had 
been received as guests; the Egyptians secretly dread 
their growing numbers, and seek to break their spirit by 
hard labour, and to exterminate the male children. But 
a single babe escapes, to become the deliverer Moses; 
the Egyptian court unconsciously educates its foe, and 
he receives his commission an exile in a desert beside 
the burning bush. The story maybe prolix in its earlier 
part, with reiterated shrinking of Moses, meek and slow 
of speech, from the bold work assigned him by God. 
But when Moses and Aaron have confronted Pharaoh, 
the march of events makes a moving panorama of miracle. 
Pharaoh is the incarnation of sullen force, yielding by 
inches, or for a single moment, only to harden his heart 
when the crisis is past. But it is human strength match- 
ing itself against the inexhaustible resources of nature, 
which Moses is permitted to wield. The river which is 
Egypt's pride runs with blood; from out its reed-grass 



32 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

frogs invade the secret recesses of luxury; the dust of 
the ground takes life to become loathsome vermin; 
indoors and outside there is no escape from swarming 
flies and corruption. While all over the land of Egypt 
beasts are dying of murrain, in Israel's land of Goshen 
the cattle are intact. The royal magicians, seeking to 
compete with the wonders of Moses, become themselves 
victims to the plague of boils. Now the heavens begin 
to play their part, and rain down wasting hail, while, to 
enhance the wonder, fire winds about the hailstones and 
melts them not. The land of Egypt is one mass of 
desolation: but from outside the east wind blows 
steadily until the swarming locusts hide the ground; at 
a sign from the champion of Israel the western hurri- 
cane succeeds, and the locust hosts are swept into the 
Red Sea. Then the whole scene dissolves into darkness 
that might be felt : every man a solitary prisoner where 
he stands. At last, midnight reveals the slain firstborn, 
and Pharaoh and his people thrust Israel forth, bribing 
them with jewels to be gone without delay. Even then 
the struggle is not over: Pharaoh pursues, and comes 
upon the fugitive people entangled between the land of 
their foe and the seacoast. Now appears the climax 
toward which events have been trending. The mass 
of cloud which hides the people from their pursuers 
becomes luminous to the Israelites, and points a way 
opened through the midst of the sea itself; the chosen 
people pass forward on dry ground, with the waters 
towering above them on either hand. The veil of cloud 
lifting, the Egyptian hosts follow on the strange path; 
but the moistening sand makes their wheels heavy, and 
the returning waters whelm them in the depths. On the 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 33 

other side rises the shout of freedom : women with tim- 
brels and dances reiterate the one thought of deliver- 
ance, while in the pauses of the dance the men sing the 
marvels by which the deliverance has come about. 

The floods stood upright as an heap ; 

The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. 

The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, 

I will divide the spoil . . . 
Thou didst blow with thy wind; the sea covered them: 
They sank as lead in the mighty waters. 

Historic narrative follows to trace the earlier jour- 
neyings of Israel. The general spirit is a looking-back 
to the fleshly ease of Egypt; particular incidents bring 
out the miraculous provision of water in the desert, the 
feeding with bread from heaven. Contact with Amalek 
gives Israel its first war; a meeting with Jethro, the 
father-in-law of Moses, leads to the first step in organisa- 
tion — the creation of subordinate officials to relieve the 
supreme lawgiver. Three months' journeying leads to 
the long halt in the desert of Sinai. 

At this point the other side of The Exodus becomes 
prominent, by which it is to be the constitutional his- 
tory of the people of Israel. We find, in succession, 
four Covenants * between God and his chosen people ; 
that is to say, the perpetual covenant relation between 
God and Israel embodies itself successively in four sys- 
tems of legislative enactment. Each 'Book of the 
Covenant ' presents the circumstances under which it is 
promulgated, the code of laws itself, and, at the close, 
some verbal or ceremonial sanction for the law. First, 
there is the Law of the Ten Commandments : here, amid 

1 For references see ' The Exodus ' in the Appendix. 



34 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

thunder and mystic darkness, the voice of God is heard 
by the people. A Book of the Covenant immediately 
follows/ of which Moses is the mediator. Whereas the 
decalogue had only given basic principles of a moral 
system, this fuller covenant contains a complete code of 
criminal law; with economic enactments, such as the 
regulation of slavery, or prohibition of usury, or estab- 
lishment of sabbatic rest for the land; it contains also 
enactments as to worship, and establishes the three 
annual feasts. Besides the promises and threats which 
make the conclusion, there is a ceremonial sanction with 
sacrifice, and the people are sprinkled with " the blood 
of the covenant." Again, when Israel, in the absence 
of Moses, has worshipped the golden calf, we have the 
Covenant of the Second Table. Moses first works ven- 
geance on the idolaters by the hands of the zealous 
Levites; then turns back to intercede passionately that 
the Lord shall not blot out his people. Accordingly, 
where before only an angel had been promised as leader 
to Israel, Jehovah is now brought to declare that his 
very presence shall go with his people, and be the sanc- 
tion of the new covenant. It is only necessary in this 
case to recapitulate leading enactments : and Moses thus 
bears a second table to the people, his face supernatu- 
rally radiant with the glory into which he has been 
admitted. There remains yet one more — the Covenant 
of Holiness. Modern associations with this word must 
not make us forget that here we are dealing with national, 
not personal, religion. The holiness is here the separate- 
ness of God's peculiar people: separation from the sins 
or evil customs of surrounding people; separation by 
national signs, such as the sabbath and the jubile; 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 35 

separateness in laws or legal customs; holiness, finally, 
as opposed to uncleanness in the offerings to the Lord. 
A long-sustained denunciation of thrilling curses upon 
disobedience brings this fourth covenant to a close. 

When the march is resumed from Sinai — now with 
pomp of ark and tabernacle and ordered procession of 
the tribes — we find successive sections of the history 
relating little but outbreaks of the spirit of murmuring, 
which reaches its climax in the incident of the spies. 
This is the turning-point of The Exodus. At the very 
threshold of the promised land the report of the spies 
makes the heart of the people to fail with the thought of 
the giants and cities fenced up to heaven. Divine wrath 
dooms the murmuring generation to wander in the 
wilderness, while only the children, who have never 
known the enervating life of Egypt, shall go over to 
take possession of the land of Canaan. For thirty-eight 
more years the wilderness life is prolonged; the older 
generation dying out, the youth gaining hardihood from 
desert life. Little is told of the eight-and-thirty years, 
and that little belongs to the close. Only a later section 
displays Moses as himself involved in the doom of the 
people he has ruled; his successor, Joshua, is to lead 
the nation over Jordan. 

The whole forty years of The Exodus find their most 
important history, not in incidents of the journey, but 
in the constitutional documents which fill up this part 
of Scripture. The documents 1 fall into two classes. 
One class is purely statistical. We have a census of 
the children of Israel who came into Egypt; another 
of the tribes on the march; another of those who died 
1 For references see ' The Exodus ' in the Appendix. 



36 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

in the plague of Moab; another of the oblations at the 
dedication of the tabernacle. A detailed specification 
is given of the tabernacle and its service; again, in 
almost the same words, a specification of the carrying 
out of the same. A calendar of sacred feasts is natu- 
rally found. And there are geographical statistics: 
an itinerary of wilderness journeys; allotments of lands 
to the tribes; allotments of cities for Levites; and, espe- 
cially, of the cities of refuge, by aid of which voluntary 
exile was to discriminate between murder and homicide. 
Perhaps the most obvious literary impression left upon 
our minds by reading such documents is the immense 
difference made by the most elementary machinery of 
modern figures. One important census * in The Exodus 
would, in a modern book, be fully conveyed by this 
brief form : — 

Generations, by families, by fathers' houses, according to the 
number of the names, by their polls, every male from twenty 
years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war : 
Of the tribe of 

Reuben 46,500 

Simeon 59j3°° 

Gad . . 45> 6 5° 

Judah 74,600 

Issachar 54>4QO 

Zebulun 57>4°° 

Joseph [Ephraim] 40,500 

Joseph [Manasseh] 32,200 

Benjamin 35>4°° 

Dan 62,700 

Asher 4 I >5°° 

Naphtali 53»4°o 

Total 603,550 

1 Numbers i. 20-44. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 37 

In the Bible this has to be expressed with full 
verbiage : — 

Of the children of Simeon, their generations, by their fami- 
lies, by their fathers' houses, those that were numbered thereof, 
according to the number of the names, by their polls, every male 
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth 
to war ; those that were numbered of them, of the tribe of 
Simeon, were fifty and nine thousand and three hundred. 

Of the children of Gad, their generations, by their families, 
etc. 

and so on, in twelve paragraphs, identical save for the 
alteration of the numbers. 

Again, we have a long array of Laws and Ordinances. 
The deliverance from Egypt gives us the Ordinances of 
the Passover and of the Firstborn. The incident of 
Nadab and Abihu connects itself with the Law of the 
Consecration of Priests; the more serious outbreak of 
Korah and his crew leads to a consolidation of the whole 
law in respect to priests and Levites. Our modern 
case-made law is exactly paralleled in the Judgment of 
the Sabbath-breaker; in the Law of the Inheritance of 
Daughters, and its sequel, On the Marriage of Heiresses; 
in the Law of Spoils : in each instance a general prin- 
ciple is brought into consideration by a particular case 
that raises it. The Law of Oblations has constitutional 
importance as providing for the support of the priest- 
hood. The Law of Purification and Atonement is in 
reality a system of diet and regimen; that of Vows and 
Tithes a settlement of voluntary and regular taxation; the 
Ritual of the Heifer of Purification treats of ceremonial 
cleanness, or, in other words, makes cleanliness a matter 
of religion. There is even a Law of Fringes, regulating 



38 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

the item of dress that was to be a perpetual reminder to 
the Israelites not " to go about after their own heart and 
their own eyes," but to remember the commandments 
of the Lord. 

At its close, the history of The Exodus strikes the 
period covered by the lost book, The Wars of Jehovah, 
and snatches of heroic ballad light up bare narrative, 
painting a total discomfiture of Moab, or recalling the 
folk-song of the well : — 

Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it; 
The well, which the princes digged, 
Which the nobles of the people delved, 
With the sceptre, and with their staves. 

Israel is facing the last peoples that stand between them 
and the land of promise. Their kindred of Edom they 
respect; but Sihon of the Amorites and Og of Bashan 
are utterly exterminated, and their land settled by 
Israel's more pastoral tribes. It is here that we reach 
the second of the two epic stories of The Exodus: the 
Plagues of Egypt had presented Israel in their abase- 
ment, the Witness of Balaam enables us to see the same 
people as a unique nation, a terror to all around. 

Moab is one of the peoples that are trembling before 
the advance of Israel, and the Moabite king, Balak, 
sends to a distant land for Balaam to come and curse 
the foe. This Balaam is a sincere worshipper of Jeho- 
vah; he is a man endowed with the spirit of prophecy, 
and in his prophetic ecstasy has a supernatural insight 
which to the heathen around him seems enchantment. 
But when not in these moments of exaltation he is an 
ordinary, worldly man, adapting himself to those around 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 39 

him and seeking his own material interests: he is a 
supreme example of an attempt to serve God and Mam- 
mon. On two occasions he goes as far as he can to meet 
the views of the Moabite king, and orders the prelimi- 
nary sacrifices. But in each case, as he seeks solitude 
for the prophetic exaltation, the spiritual side of Balaam 
prevails, and curse becomes blessing: by a rare literary 
effect the prose of the story becomes verse to clothe the 
outpouring of prophecy : — 

For from the top of the rocks I see him, 

And from the hills I behold him; 
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone, 

And shall not be reckoned among the nations. 

Balak in desperation chooses a third point of view, 
and Balaam listlessly attends him. Without seeking 
solitude this time, the prophet simply turns where he 
stands to gaze on Israel in the desert below. His eye is 
caught by the serried ranks of tents, the orderly array to 
which Israel has been disciplined, so different from the 
rude encampments of desert hordes : in a new outburst 
he compares this to spreading valleys, gardens by the 
river side, avenues of aloes of Jehovah's planting; and 
he yet again exalts the people's lion-like might. When 
Balak storms, Balaam pours forth prophecies more dis- 
tinct, and tells of Moab, Seir, Edom, Amalek, all over- 
thrown by the sceptre that shall rise out of Israel. Thus 
Balaam in his mood of inspiration has been compelled 
to witness to the finished work of The Exodus. But 
when story gives place to history we are able to see, 
not by direct statement, but by inference, how in 
some uninspired hour Balaam descended to the office 
of tempter, and suggested the seductive influences of 



40 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Moab's daughters, 1 which drew Israel into lust, and the 
following plague, and, finally, to war. From the list 
of the slain 2 we find that Balaam the man died fighting 
against the people whom Balaam the prophet had blessed. 

Deuteronomy : or, The Farewell of Moses to Israel 

At the point we have now reached the succession of 
historic books is interrupted by a book which is not his- 
tory, but oratory. A full title for Deuteronomy might 
be, The Orations and Songs of Moses, constituting his 
Farewell to the People of Israel. As oratory it is unsur- 
passed, in its rush of rhythmic sentences, its ebb and 
flow of exalted passion, its accents of appeal and denun- 
ciation. The matter is as striking as the form. Deu- 
teronomy has been called the most spiritual book in the 
Old Testament; its sudden discovery worked a religious 
revolution, and from the days of Josiah to the days of 
Jesus it was a text-book of Jewish devoutness. But the 
spiritually minded Moses has to encounter a people 
moved mainly by material promises and threats : through 
the entire book the two tides of feeling are in conflict. 
And beneath the whole lies a situation unique in its 
human pathos: all who listen will enter the land of 
promise, he who speaks is the only one excluded. Thus, 
through the succession of orations a dramatic situation 
is being developed; at length — with the elasticity that 
distinguishes Hebrew literature — oratory gives place to 
song, and a climax is reached in which pathos is only an 
undertone in glorious triumph. 

The very title page of the book lays stress upon the 

1 Numbers xxxi. 16. 2 Numbers xxxi. 8. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 41 

scene, some spot in the deep Arabah, where we can 
conceive of a vast multitude being brought picturesquely 
within the sight and hearing of a single speaker. In 
the first of the four orations Moses announces his Depo- 
sition from the Leadership of Israel. In the calm tone 
of historic survey is traced a succession of events, end- 
ing with that outburst of murmuring which drove Israel 
from the border of the promised land to eight-and-thirty 
years of wilderness wandering. The tone of the new 
generation, and the glorious conquests accorded them, 
had raised again the personal hopes of Moses; he had 
besought the Lord that he might see the good land 
beyond Jordan; he had received the final word, "Speak 
no more to me of this matter." Thus his work is done 
as mediator through whom the commandments of God 
are made known to Israel : the commandments remain 
for Israel to obey, and this obedience shall be their wis- 
dom among the nations. A perorati6n presents Israel, 
by their history and their legislation, gloriously separate 
among the peoples of the world. 

The second oration belongs to a ceremonial occasion: 
The Delivery of the Covenant to the Levites and Elders. 
The commandments of which Moses has been the speaker 
have now been put in written form; this 'Book of the 
Covenant ' — which, in fifteen chapters, follows the sec- 
ond oration — we must suppose handed to the Levites 
and elders grouped around Moses, and in their cus- 
tody it is henceforward to remain. In the oration itself 
Moses appeals to his hearers to write Hhese command- 
ments upon their heart, talking of them when they sit 
in their house and when they walk by the way, when they 
lie down and when they rise up. The speech surveys 



42 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY- 

the forty years of providential mercies in the wilderness, 
and also the succession of murmurings and rebellions. 
Not for their own righteousness will the people of Israel 
conquer the nations; only as reward for their own obedi- 
ence will the land of promise enjoy the rain of heaven, 
and send forth its corn and wine and oil. 

In place of a peroration we find reference to a still 
more imposing function that is to follow. An ordinance 
makes provision for the Ceremonial of the Blessing and 
the Curse, as an institution for the other side of Jordan. 
But there is a rehearsal 1 of this ceremonial in the pres- 
ence of Moses: priests standing round the ark in the 
valley chaunt the curses, and the whole multitude on the 
slopes shout their Amen. Being only a rehearsal, Moses 
interrupts this before it is concluded; and himself, in 
what constitutes the third oration, goes over the matter 
of blessing and curse. Nowhere in literature is there to 
be found so sustained an effort of terror-striking speech. 
Curses are to descend upon the guilty in city and field, 
when they come in or go out, in basket or kneading 
trough, in war or peace, in every element of life ; curses 
from the heaven above or the earth under foot; curses 
on fruit of body, of cattle, of land; curses in the form 
of madness, or loathly sickness, of defeat and every 
form of adversity and helplessness. Instead of joyous 
service of Jehovah amid abundance of all things, they 
shall serve a bitter enemy in hunger and thirst and lack 
of all things; horrors of war and siege are painted, with 

1 Chapter xxvii seems to combine an ordinance for the Ceremonial 
of the Blessing and the Curse on the other side of Jordan with a partial 
rehearsal on the spot, this latter interrupted by the Third Oration, Chapter 
xxviii. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 43 

delicate women devouring their own children. The 
guilty shall be scattered as an abomination through the 
idol-worshipping nations. 

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, and there 
shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot : but the Lord shall 
give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and 
pining of soul: and thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; 
and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have none assur- 
ance of thy life : in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it 
were even ! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were 
morning ! for the fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, 
and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. And 
the Lord shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by 
the way whereof I said unto thee, Thou shalt see it no 
more again : and there ye shall sell yourselves unto your 
enemies for bondmen and for bondwomen : and no man shall 
buy you. 

In the fourth oration we mark- a transition from 
national to personal religion: if a man is cherishing 
evil in his secret heart, and thinking to escape in the 
general righteousness, he shall be separated from all 
Israel for the curse to descend upon him. Yet even 
when the curse has come down, from the most distant 
land of exile there is a way of escape by turning to God 
with full purpose of heart. Nor is this difficult: the 
word is not afar off, but in the very hearts of Israel. 
Moses calls heaven and earth to witness that he has set 
before his people life and death: "choose life, that thou 
mayest live." With a single reference to his extreme 
age and waning strength, Moses, with words of cheer 
on his lips, withdraws from the people he has led, and 
installs Joshua in his place. 



44 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

A wave of poetic impulse comes over the retired 
leader, anxious for his people when he is gone. 

My doctrine shall drop as the rain, 

My speech shall distil as the dew; 
As the small rain upon the tender grass, 

And as the showers upon the herb. 

This Song of Moses celebrates Jehovah as the Rock of 
Israel, Jeshurun as the people of his inheritance, kept 
as the apple of his eye. When Jeshurun, fed with all 
the richness of nature, waxes fat and kicks, all nature is 
aflame with vengeance. Bitter suffering shows the dif- 
ference between the Rock of Israel and the loathly gods 
to whom Israel has revolted; commiseration changes 
in the heart of Deity to vengeance, and Jehovah again 
fights on behalf of his own people. 

We have reached the last stage of the action, and the 
Passing of Moses. The whole people wait to see their 
leader depart on his mystic journey: heads of the tribes 
line the route. Moses, with lingering steps, passes 
along, speaking to each leader words that thrill : old war 
cries of the tribes, or prophetic picturings, to be treas- 
ured up as blessings for the future. Reuben, strong in 
numbers; Judah, sufficient of his hands. Levi has been 
proved at the water of strife. On the shoulders of Ben- 
jamin Jehovah shall have his dwelling. Joseph is dow- 
ered with all gifts of sky and deep, of ancient mountains 
and everlasting hills. Zebulun the wanderer, Issachar 
with his tent life, Gad the lioness, Dan the lion's whelp, 
Naphtali rejoicing in his western sea and sunny south, 
Asher in wealth of oil and brass : each has received his 
word of farewell. For a last time Moses takes in at a 
single view the vast multitude, and lifts his hands in the 
final blessing: — 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 45 

There is none like unto God, O Jeshurun, 
Who rideth upon the heaven for thy help, 
And in his excellency on the skies. 

The eternal God is thy dwelling place, 
And underneath are the everlasting arms. 

Then Moses turns to resume the journey on which none 
may accompany him. Like the hush that follows a pas- 
sionate climax comes a drop to the barest prose, telling 
of the ascent, the gaze from Pisgah's top over the prom- 
ised land, the solitary death, the sepulchre that no man 
knoweth. The mighty personality which has linked 
the bondmen of Egypt to the conquerors of the land of 
promise has passed out of the history of Israel. 

The Judges : or, Transition to a Secular Monarchy 

Heroes of the Transition : this might be a title for the 
portion of sacred history which is contained in the bib- 
lical Joshua, Judges, and part of Samuel. Hitherto 
Israel has had the distinction among the nations of a 
theocracy, the government of an invisible God, whose 
will is made known through his representative, Moses. 
In the future they will be found living under ordinary 
kings, who succeed by natural descent. In the inter- 
vening period we find, at intervals, and for portions of 
the nation, rulers of a special kind, who are called in 
the Bible 'judges.' But the associations of this English 
word are altogether misleading. The judges of Israel 
are nearer to the 'heroes ' of other peoples; and, like the 
heroes of chivalry, their glory is redressing human wrongs 
by the sword. They are, however, distinctly commis- 
sioned by God: as we find prophets and 'angels ' in this 



46 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

history interpreting God's will, so the judge does God's 
work. Thus, the spirit of the history is here given in 
the heroic stories. But the stories are fitted into a 
framework of narrative, under which we can trace a 
gradual change of spirit, leading, the people of Israel 
to assimilate themselves to the nations around with a 
secular kingship. 

To Joshua 1<he term 'judge ' is hardly applicable : he 
is the successor of Moses, and carries the exodus to its 
natural conclusion in a conquest of Canaan. Yet here 
also the spirit of the period is conveyed in heroic story. / 
Like the spies who brought the grapes of Eshcol to the 
wilderness, we have the exciting adventures of the spies 
sent to Jericho, received in the house over the wall, and 
let down by Rahab with the scarlet rope which was to 
save her in the destruction of the city. The miraculous 
crossing of the Jordan recalls the crossing of the Red 
Sea. The first city is conquered by no human force : 
a mystic captain of the Lord's host takes command, 
and the city walls fall before a shout. The war against 
Ai reminds us that we are in a remote age in which the 
feigned retreat and ambush are military novelties; but 
here — as so often under Moses the aim of the people 
interfered with the intentions of providence — the 
covetousness of Achan brings defeat, until it is purged 
by his stoning in the Valley of Trouble. Story interest 
is now varied : in place of war we have the wily embassy 
of the Gibeonites, who with their old shoes and clouted 
and musty bread deceive Israel into making an alliance 
with them as a distant people. This alliance brings 
against Joshua the League of the Five Kings. In the 
Battle of Beth-horon, that overthrows these kings, the 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 47 

very heavens are on the side of Israel : the historic nar- 
rative speaks of hailstones destroying more than the 
swords of the people, while the ballad that is quoted 
makes mention of greater wonders : — 

Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; 

And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon ! 
And the sun stood still, 
And the moon stayed, 

Until the nation had avenged themselves of their enemies. 

After these stories we have only brief summaries of con- 
quests in other parts of Canaan; an elaborate state-paper 
fixes the allotments of land among the tribes. Then, 
recalling the Farewell of Moses, we have the solemn 
scene in which Joshua renews the covenant between 
God and his people, and writes their vow in the book of 
the law of God. 

It is where the biblical title changes to The Book of 
Judges that the general character of the transition period 
becomes apparent. The Israelites have committed the 
fatal error of not entirely driving out the nations of the 
land : those nations that are left become so many " thorns 
in their sides." 1 The gods of these nations seduce 
Israel to idolatry, and the wrath of Jehovah falls upon 
them. It is to meet situations like this that judges are 
raised up. 

. And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord 
was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their 
enemies all the days of the judge; for it repented the Lord 
because of their groaning by reason of them that oppressed 
them and vexed them. But it came to pass, when the judge 
was dead, that they turned back, and dealt more corruptly than 
their fathers, in following other gods to serve them. 2 

1 Judges ii. 3. 2 Judges ii. 18-19. 



48 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

The history follows the succession of these heroic 
saviours. Sometimes no more is given than the source 
of the oppression and the name of the judge. Or some 
single detail is added : the ox-goad of Shamgar, 1 Abdon 2 
with his forty sons and thirty grandsons riding on their 
seventy ass colts. Or again, with all the vividness of an 
eye-witness, is related the assassination of the Moabite 
oppressor, and how Ehud was able to bury his sword in 
the body of "a very fat man." 

Of the greater crises the first is the "mighty oppres- 
sion" of Jabin and Sisera, when "the highways were 
unoccupied and the travellers walked through byways." 
The tyrants had nine hundred chariots of iron : against 
a force like this the half-armed infantry of Israel would 
be helpless, except by surprise. This seems to have 
been the plan of Barak, when, roused by a prophetess, 
Deborah, he leads the muster of Zebulun and Naphtali 
to the high ground of Kedesh, from which they can 
choose a moment for a sudden attack. But treachery is 
at work. The Kenites had united with Israel during 
the wilderness journeys, retaining in Canaan their tent 
life. Heber the Kenite, however, is described as mov- 
ing his tent away from his brethren until he is in touch 
with Kedesh; he is at peace with King Jabin: in fact, 
holds the peaceful relation of a spy. Accordingly the 
surprise is frustrated, and the army of Sisera fills the 
plain of Esdraelon. But "the stars in their courses 
fought against Sisera"; a sudden shower had converted 
the whole plain into a morass, and while the horses are 
madly prancing in the mud the Israelites are able to 
exterminate the enemy in a single day. Sisera fleeing 

1 iii. 31. 2 xii. 14. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 49 

from the battle seeks the friendly tent of Heber. But 
Heber's wife, Jael, had had no sympathy with her hus- 
band's baseness; she now sees her opportunity: with 
feigned hospitality luring Sisera to rest she drives the 
nail through his temples while he sleeps. The strange 
providence by which the treason of the husband was bal- 
anced by the treachery of the wife, this, as much as the 
victory itself, inspires the exultation of Deborah's Song. 
The scene changes to Gilead, and the oppressors are 
now Bedouin hordes of the desert — Midianites, Amale- 
kites, and children of the east, as locusts for multitude, 
and their camels as sand that is upon the seashore, with 
tawdry splendour of earrings and crescents and pendants 
and chains upon the camels' necks; before their devour- 
ing progress all sustenance of crops and flocks vanishes, 
and the men of Israel take refuge in caves and mountain 
dens. The spirit of the story is a sort of providential 
scorn for the vanity of mere numbers; The champion 
raised up is of a family the poorest in Manasseh, and he 
least in his father's house. Gideon hears with aston- 
ishment the angel's salutation to him as a mighty man of 
valour; before he can rise to- the description he needs 
sign after sign to reassure him — the angel departing in 
the flame of sacrifice, the fleece moist when all around 
is dry, dry when all around is moist. With strenuous 
exertions Gideon has got an army together. They are 
pronounced too many : the proclamation for all the fear- 
ful and trembling to depart releases two out of every 
three. The ten thousand that remain are still too many : 
the chance token of lapping with the hands instead of 
kneeling down to drink selects a three hundred who are 
enough as the instrument with which Jehovah's work 



50 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

will be done. As the crisis draws near there is the 

thrilling night adventure of Gideon and his servant 
descending into the midst of the sleeping hosts, and 
hearing one tell a fellow his dream. In the heart of the 
vast multitude, it appears, there is dread of the sword of 
Gideon. The hint is caught: Gideon's strategy is the 
manufacture of a panic. Torches are covered with 
pitchers : at the word of command the pitchers are shat- 
tered, the torches flare out, the trumpet rings, and with 
the shout "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon" the 
three hundred charge down the three slopes, and drive 
the Midianite hosts down the valley in headlong haste, 
slaughter and rout, until the story slowly dies out in 
long strain of pursuit and plunder. 

Heroism melts into tragic pathos in the story of Jeph- 
thah, compelled by a rash vow to offer up in sacrifice 
the daughter who has come out leading the dance in 
honour of her father's victory. The opposite spirit 
underlies the stories of Samson. This Samson has the 
vast strength and physical robustness that overflows in 
humour and rough sport. And humour may do the work 
of providence: the Israelites are cowed before the 
Philistines, Samson delights to mock the foe and 
make them contemptible. He turns foxes with fire- 
brands on their tails into the standing corn; he slays a 
host with no weapon but an ass's jawbone; he loses a 
wager to Philistine guests, and pays it in raiment of 
other Philistines he slaughters for the purpose; he lets 
himself be confined in Gaza, and runs away with the 
city gates on his back; he pretends he will be helpless 
if bound with new cords, or if his locks be woven with 
the web, and at a word the cords snap like thread, and 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 51 

his nod carries away web and pin and all. When, under 
Delilah's seductions, Samson has revealed the true secret, 
and been cast blind into prison, his nemesis takes the 
form of making sport for the triumphant Philistines. 
But at last he makes sport in grim earnest: with a jest 
on his lips — of taking vengeance for at least one of his 
two eyes — he bows the. pillars in his mighty strain, and 
buries with him more foes than he had slain in his life. 
The succession of hero stories has been interrupted by 
a story of a different kind, yet most important for the 
history of the transition. It is nothing less than the 
appearance of a 'king ' in Israel. After his great deliv- 
erance Gideon was offered royalty for himself and his 
descendants; but he refused, true to the great principle 
that Jehovah was Israel's king. After his death his 
baseborn son, Abimelech, persuaded the men of Shechem 
to crown him : he slew the seventy sons of his father, 
except one who escaped; and then, with a rabble follow- 
ing, marched on in triumph. At an angle in the road 
the escaped Jotham confronted the procession, and from 
a safe height flung down at them this fable, in scorn of 
kingship : — 

The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them, 
and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. But 
the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, 
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to wave 
to and fro over the trees ? And the trees said to the fig tree, 
Come, thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto 
them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my good fruit, and 
go to wave to and fro over the trees ? And the trees said 
unto the vine, Come, thou, and reign over us. And the 
vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth 
God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? 



52 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come, thou, and 
reign over us. And the bramble said unto the trees, If in 
truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your 
trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble 
and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 

The final word is fulfilled : an inglorious reign of three 
years ends in feuds, Abimelech burns the tower of 
Shechem over the heads of his rebel subjects, and him- 
self meets death at the hands of a woman. 

It is the darkest hour of disorder before the dawn of 
firmer rule which is revealed in the two stories of Micah 
and of the Benjamite War: four times here is repeated 
the formula, that there was no king in Israel, but every 
man did that which was right in his own eyes. There 
seems to be a naive simplicity in the evil revealed by 
the first of these stories : the mother in devout thankful- 
ness that her son has restored the silver he had stolen 
from her makes it into graven images; Micah himself 
manages to secure a wandering Levite, and feels sure of 
the Lord's favour because he has a Levite as priest of his 
idols; the Danites wandering to a new settlement steal 
Micah' s images, and to the protesting Levite use the 
convincing argument that it will be better for him to 
be priest to a tribe than to a single man; finally, when 
Micah and his neighbours pursue, the Danites let their 
numbers be seen, and considerately advise Micah not 
to let his voice be heard, "lest angry fellows should fall 
upon him." The other is a story of unspeakable out- 
rage, bloody revenge, treacherous betrayal of women. 
Yet, if this suggests much as to the helplessness of 
woman in an age of lawlessness, it must be remembered 
that to about the same period, and to no very distant 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 53 

locality, belongs the exquisite idyl of Ruth — the rustic 
peace of Bethlehem, the friendship of two women, and 
generous love of Boaz, which introduced a Moabitess 

into the ancestry of Israel's kings. 

The rise of order out of chaos associates itself with 
the name of Samuel. Every child knows the stories of 
Samuel's birth and boyhood: how the mother, long 
childless, vows her babe to the Lord's service, how she 
fulfils her vow, and watches over her child from a dis- 
tance, bringing every year the little robe; how while yet 
a youth Samuel hears the Divine call he does not under- 
stand, and unwillingly bears to the aged Eli the tidings 
of his doom. "The word of the Lord was precious in 
those days; there was no open vision." "The Lord 
appeared again in Shiloh . . . and the word of Samuel 
came to all Israel." This is nothing less than the rise 
of prophecy : single prophets have at times appeared, but 
from Samuel there is an unbroken order of prophets to 
the end of Israel's national existence. And Samuel's 
first act, when fully established, is to renew once more at 
Mizpah the covenant between God and Israel. But with 
the rise of prophecy we have the growing demand for 
kingship. All through the transition there have been 
Teachings after national unity: in the temporary sway 
of judges; in the abortive kingship of Abimelech; in 
the idea that the authority of a judge might be heredi- 
tary, frustrated by the wickedness of Eli's sons; in the 
attempt of Samuel himself to make his sons judges, 
failing likewise by their unworthiness; Shiloh also, 
with its ark, seems to be accepted as a symbol of 
national unity, and hence the importance attached to 
the circumstance of the ark falling into the hands of the 



54 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Philistines, and the stories of the wonders that attend 
its presence until it is recovered. At last the people 
insist upon a king to lead them to battle like the nations 
around; however unwilling, Samuel is commanded to 
give way: "They have not rejected thee, but they have 
rejected me." At first it is a kingship under prophetic 
control : Samuel anoints Saul, and writes in a book the 
manner of the kingdom. But between the kingship 
imitated from the nations and the prophetic order 
inspired directly by God there is irreconcilable antipa- 
thy. There is more than a momentary meaning in the 
proverb, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" 

In realistic detail is described the anointing of Saul. 
Then more historic narrative follows the early part of 
the reign, and the success of the kingly office in organ- 
ising resistance to the Philistines. To this war belongs 
the story of the Raid on Michmash : Jonathan and his 
armour-bearer single-handed take a garrison, and them- 
selves barely escape execution in consequence of Saul's 
rash vow. Even here the hasty sacrifice of Saul pro- 
duces a breach between prophet and king. The breach 
becomes final in the Amalekite war, when Agag with the 
chief of the devoted spoil is spared; Samuel sternly 
slays Agag, and with the sign of the rent robe 
pronounces the kingdom rent from Saul. David is 
anointed: the presence side by side of the future 
dynasty and the dynasty already rejected affords the 
materials of a long feud, with which the history of the 
transition is brought to a conclusion. 

The spirit which has been prominent throughout this 
portion of the history of Israel culminates in the long- 
drawn story of adventures in the Feud of Saul and 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 55 

David. Throughout the whole runs like a refrain the 

verse : — 

Saul has slain his thousands, 
And David his ten thousands. 

All else makes a background against which stand out 
three striking figures : Saul, of the mighty spear, proto- f 
type of the men-at-arms and cavalry of the future ; Jona- 
than the archer, patron of Israel's infantry; David, who 
works his feats with a sling from a distance, prototype 
of the artillery of the future : Saul, raised to an eminence 
by a power which has cast him off, seeing his servants 
and very children drawn away to his rival, falling under 
the domination of a spirit of evil, knowing his doom, 
yet a warrior to the last; David, type of the coming age, 
with winning grace and artistic genius, a hero in the 
field, yet with power to direct and govern; Jonathan, 
natural inheritor of his father's feud, yet knit to the 
man that must supplant him, until he loves him as his 
own soul, and the names of the two are forever linked 
in the most sacred of human friendships. It is a story 
of rapid movement. Now David is in the midst of 
palace scenes and bursts of royal frenzy; now he is 
secretly communing with Jonathan in the field; now he 
is captain of a band of the discontented in the wilder- 
ness; now he is a bulwark to flocks and herds of pas- 
toral- Israel, and wins the beautiful and prudent wife of 
the churlish Nabal; now he is fleeing with his followers 
through caves and woods; twice he has his enemy in his 
grasp, and twice his reverence for the person of the 
Lord's Anointed shames Saul into softer feelings; he is 
found serving the king of Gath against Israel, until 
memory of his former prowess against them makes the 



56 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

other lords of the Philistines demand his dismissal; 
again, he has a city of his own to govern and make 
prosperous, finds it looted in his absence and takes bitter 
revenge. For Saul the approaching climax is darkened 
by the visit to the witch of Endor; Samuel appears from 
the grave in visible form rehearsing the melancholy 
doom. All the threads of the story unite in the Battle 
of Gilboa, in which Saul and Jonathan fall, and the 
messenger of their death pays the penalty of boasting, 
slain by David as self-confessed slayer of the Lord's 
Anointed. Then David pours out his grief in his lament 
over Saul and Jonathan, lovely and pleasant in their 
lives, and in their death not divided. 

I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan, 
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me; 
Thy love to me was wonderful, 
Passing the love of women ! 

With this touching elegy the heroic story of Scripture 
comes to a close : we pass into a different spirit of 
history. 

The Kings and P?-ophets 

It is hardly necessary to explain that I am not, in these 
few pages, attempting to write the history of Israel, but 
simply to treat the national history as part of the 
national literature; to indicate threads of connection, 
which may assist in keeping clear the philosophy of 
Israel's history as it presents itself to the sacred writers. 
From the point now reached that history becomes more 
complex, but does not alter its essential character. 
Three considerations should be borne in mind. Israel 
has become a monarchy, with principles of natural 



J 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 57 

descent and all the apparatus of secular kingship. But 
at the same time there never fails an order of prophets, 
whose divine commission manifests itself in their ap- 
peal to the consciences of their hearers :' these prophets 
stand for the ideas of the old theocracy. Again, it must 
be remembered that the books now under consideration 
come from the side of this prophetic opposition. In 
form they follow the reigns of the kings ; when there 
are two kingdoms they endeavour, as far as chronology 
permits, to keep the reigns of Israel and Judah side by 
side; yet, in fact, the secular matter is despatched with 
the utmost brevity, or we are referred to other histories, 
but where the mission of prophecy is affected we get 
minute and vivid detail. Accordingly, in the third 
place, that which has distinguished the literary character 
of the history all through — the use of story to empha- 
sise history — adapts itself to the new conditions: we 
get annals of the kings combined with stories of the 
prophets. 

At the outset prophecy may well be in abeyance, for 
the kingly and prophetic spirit have united in the man 
after God's own heart. The account of David's reign 
falls into two very different parts. One deals, in more 
or less compressed narrative, with national events : the 
long-continued conflict between the house of Saul and 
the house of David, under their military champions Abner 
and Joab ; the wars by which David enlarged and con- 
solidated the kingdom ; the great feat of arms by which 
the impregnable Jerusalem was captured from the Jebu- 
sites, and solemnly inaugurated as a sacred metropolis ; 
the planning of a grand temple which David himself 
was never to see ; the mysterious sin of numbering the 



58 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

people, and its strange expiation under the prophetic 
ministry of Gad. Even here the literary character of 
the history is made evident by the prominence it gives 
to poetical compositions of the royal psalmist. David 
idealises in a single magnificent Song of Victory the 
deliverances of a lifetime. 

The waves of death compassed me, 

The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 
The cords of Sheol were round about me : 

The snares of death came upon me. 
In my distress I called upon the Lord, 

Yea, I called unto my God : 
And he heard my voice out of his temple, 

And my cry came into his ears. 

All nature is suddenly convulsed as Jehovah descends to 
the rescue, amid bowing heavens and shaking earth, 
shrouded in thickest darkaess, while arrows of sharp 
lightnings prepare the way. And in the rescue of the 
righteous man the cause of right itself has triumphed : — 

With the merciful thou wilt sh6w thyself merciful, 
With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect, 

With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure, 

And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward. 

Once more, we have David's Last Words, breathing the 
spirit of rest after an accomplished ideal of the righteous 
ruler : — 

He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, 

A morning without clouds; 
When the tender grass springeth out of the earth, 

Through the clear shining after rain. 

Very different is the other phase of David's reign : 
the great personal sin of the ruler after God's heart, and 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 59 

its rebuke by Nathan's parable of the ewe lamb. The 
prophetic word is spoken : The sword shall not depart 
from thy house. Accordingly it is prophecy, not history, 
that we are reading, as we follow the expanded narrative 
of the Feud between David's Children : the banishment 
of Absalom, and the masterful conduct by which he pro- 
cures his return and fresh opportunities of mischief; the 
great revolt ; the long-drawn humiliation of the flight 
from Jerusalem ; the coarse triumph and divided counsels 
of the usurper ; the blunt statesmanship with which Joab 
brings the king back to power, all the while that David 
himself is prostrated by his recognition of the Divine 
hand in all that happens, and his ineradicable tenderness 
for the fairest as well as most wicked of his sons. Even 
when David is back at Jerusalem the domestic troubles 
do not end; in his last moments the feud breaks out 
afresh in the disputed succession, and Nathan appears 
for the last time to use the prophetic influence on the 
side of Solomon. 

There is a return to plain history in the brief and com- 
pressed narrative in which is presented the political side 
of the reign of Solomon. The kingdom received from 
David is extended to what may well be called an empire, 
and Solomon feigns "over all the kingdoms from the 
River unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the 
border of Egypt." Foreign alliances with Egypt and 
Tyre bring Israel into the circle of great states. Com- 
mercial wealth flows in, and brings splendour of external 
life ; Solomon makes silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, 
and cedars as lowland sycamore trees in abundance. 
At this one point in the sacred history it would appear 
as if the place of prophecy were taken by another form 



60 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

of spiritual energy — wisdom. In his prayer at Gibeon 
Solomon makes wisdom the great desire of his life, and 
he is exalted to be to the philosophy of Israel what his 
father had been to its poetry. The gathering literature 
of proverbs centres around his name, exchange of wis- 
dom takes place between Solomon and Hiram of Tyre, 
and the Queen of distant Sheba makes a pilgrimage to 
admire the wisest of kings. It would seem from the tone 
of the narrative as if the conception of ' wisdom ' were 
here extended to take in the achievement of Solomon 
in the sacred arts : he erects the magnificent Temple, 
and in impressive dedicatory prayer makes it the centre 
of national religion, to which under all circumstances 
Israel might turn in penitence or supplication. At length, 
however, Solomon, like his father, yields to feminine 
influence ; his foreign wives corrupt the religion of 
Israel with heathen rites. At once prophecy comes to 
the front, and Ahijah throws his influence on the side 
of the Jeroboam who, amid numerous other adversaries, 
is the centre of revolt. Solomon himself dies in peace ; 
but when his son Rehoboam, with the reverse of his father's 
wisdom, takes the counsel of the younger men, and will 
make his little finger thicker than his father's loins, the 
cry is heard, "To your tents, O Israel." Jeroboam, 
backed by the influence of the prophets, rends ten tribes 
from the house of David. 

The history which our literature is to present is increas- 
ing in its complexity : henceforward two distinct king- 
doms are to be balanced side by side in the sacred 
narrative. By an incident that shortly follows, the com- 
plexity becomes greater still. The first act of Jeroboam 
is to set up golden calves to represent the gods of Israel, 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 61 

and Bethel and Dan as rivals to Jerusalem ; at once he 
becomes, for the whole course of prophetic history, the 
"Jeroboam who made Israel to sin." At this point is 
found a prophetic story, strange in its details, but most 
important for its bearing on the spirit of the historic 
books. A " man of God " out of Judah denounces the 
idolatrous rites of Jeroboam, and is confirmed by the 
rending of the altar and withering of the king's arm. 
Jeroboam makes submission and is restored ; when he 
offers hospitality the man of God refuses, being com- 
manded to return without eating or drinking. But an 
" old prophet " of Bethel pursues him, renews the hos- 
pitable offer, and is again refused. 

And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and 
an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, 
Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat 
bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. So he went 
back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank 
water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the 
word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him 
back : and he cried unto the man of God that came from 
Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast 
been disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not 
kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded 
thee, but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water 
in the place of the which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and 
drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre 
of thy fathers. 

The prophecy is fulfilled, and on his way back into 
Judah the man of God is slain by a lion. The prophet 
of Bethel finds his dead body. 

And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned 
over him, saying, Alas, my brother ! And it came to pass, after 



62 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When 
I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of 
God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 

In this strange way is brought home to the reader the 
fact that, not only are the kingdoms divided, but there 
is a schism in prophecy itself; henceforward the false 
prophet in conflict with the true is an additional element 
of difficulty in the tangled politics of Israel. 

It is unnecessary to follow the bare records of reigns 
which succeed ; kings of Israel and Judah, with the 
exception of Asa, are alike pronounced evil. We soon 
reach, amongst kings of Israel, the name of Ahab, who 
takes for queen Jezebel of the Zidonians. Under her 
influence has been reached the nadir point of kingly 
revolt ; it is no longer imperfect service of Jehovah that 
appears, but Baal has been enthroned in Jehovah's place. 
At once prophecy springs to its full height to meet the 
crisis ; literary form catches the changed spirit, and 
story dominates history as we are abruptly introduced 
to the ministry of Elijah. 

With great insight into the spirit of the narrative Men- 
delssohn, in his musical setting of Elijah's career, has 
violated conventional order by commencing, even before 
his overture, with the few words of recitative which con- 
vey Elijah's prediction of the three years' famine : it is 
against the background of this famine that the details of 
the crisis are presented. While brooks and rivers are 
drying up, Elijah is miraculously fed by ravens beside 
the brook Cherith ; while all around hunger and death 
are doing their work, the good woman who shelters the 
prophet finds her barrel of meal and cruse of oil mys- 
teriously renewed, and her son restored to life. When 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 63 

the drought is at its height, and the king with his minis- 
ters are searching the land for water, Elijah suddenly 
reappears, and the most dramatic of all Bible scenes is 
presented. Elijah demands to be confronted with the 
prophets of Baal; Ahab, always a hesitator between 
Jehovah and idols, dares not refuse. There is an echo 
from the renewal of the covenant under Joshua when 
Elijah demands of the assembled people, How long halt 
ye between two opinions? But the people answer not a 
word. In strange opposition the four hundred and fifty 
prophets of Baal prolong their ecstatic worship from morn- 
ing to noon, from noon to evening, amid the mockeries of 
Elijah. Then the prophet of the Lord, with his evening 
prayer, draws down the fire from heaven which consumes 
the sacrifice, and licks up the water in the trenches, while 
all the people shout, The Lord, he is God. The false 
prophets are slain by the brook Kishon, and at once there 
is a sound of abundance of rain ; Elijah seems to be 
forcing the clouds into the sky by the vehemence of his 
prayers on Carmel, and in the exultation of the sudden 
relief joins the runners before the chariot of Ahab. 

The prophet has triumphed : the man feels the re- 
action of physical and spiritual depression as he flees 
before the threats of Jezebel. His wanderings bring 
this chief of the prophets nearer and nearer to the 
scene of the original giving of the Law. Moses had 
fasted forty days and forty nights on the mount ; Elijah, 
in the strength of angels' food, goes forty days to the 
same mount, where once the theocracy had been pro- 
claimed amid thunder and the great fire and the sound 
of a more than human voice. And once more nature 
seems shaken with the approach of Deity. 



/ 



64 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong 
wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before 
the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the 
wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake : 
and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the 
fire : and after the fire a still small voice. 

Instinctively a modern reader listens for some deep 
spiritual truth, or some foundation principle of moral 
law, as the point to which all this succession of wonders 
has led up : what we actually hear is this : — 

Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus : and 
when thou comest thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over 
Syria: and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be 
king over Israel : and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel- 
meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it 
shall come to pass, that him that escapeth from the sword of 
Hazael shall Jehu slay : and him that escapeth from the sword 
of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet will I leave me seven thousand 
in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and 
every mouth which hath not kissed him. 

Nothing could more powerfully illustrate the true position 
of prophecy. The prophets are not, in the modern sense, 
spiritual pastors : they are the statesmen who make their 
stand for the theocracy in the political history of Israel. 
The joint ministry of Elijah and Elisha is to strike a unity 
through all that succeeds ; the history of Israel to the 
end of the northern kingdom is no more than the ex- 
pansion of the message of Horeb. 

In that message Syria has been indicated as the instru- 
ment of Divine vengeance against Israel. What imme- 
diately follows 1 — told with vivid detail because of the 
prophetic personages involved — displays the kingdom 
1 I Kings xx, continued xxii. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 65 

of Syria passing from friendship into hostility against 
the .kingdom of Israel. Judah is joined with Israel, its 
supple king Jehoshaphat at once serving Jehovah and 
making alliance with idol-worshippers. Hence we get 
the strangest of all prophetic scenes : Micaiah facing the 
false prophets .of Ahab, and springing upon the allied 
kings his vision of the lying spirit put by God in the 
mouth of Ahab's prophets to lure him on to his doom. 
Under such gloomy auspices is fought the battle of 
Ramoth-gilead, in which Ahab, vainly disguised, falls by 
a bow drawn at a venture. It is other prophets who 
figure in these incidents, while Elijah has been continu- 
ing his first prophetic task of confronting Ahab with his 
crimes. 1 And he lives to speak a word of doom to 
Ahab's son and successor, a last prophecy drawn from 
Elijah amid scenes of lightning strokes and the destruc- 
tion of captains with their fifties. 

Three words of" command made up the prophecy of 
Horeb : the first to reach fulfilment is the mysterious 
succession of Elisha to the work of Elijah. The event is 
told of Elijah's ascent to heaven : as the fiery chariots 
disappear the mantle of Elijah is taken by Elisha, sym- 
bol of the double portion of his spirit. A long series of 
wonder stories follow, the design of which is to vindicate 
Elisha as the successor of Elijah. The waters of Jordan 
divide at his word ; the foul spring is healed with salt ; 
the mocking children are overtaken by destruction. In 
the next wonder once more Jehoshaphat is seen in alliance 
with Israel and demanding a prophet of the Lord : he is 
told of Elisha, "who poured water on the hands of 

1 / Kings xxi, continued // Kings i. 



66 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Elijah." and Elisha foretells the miracle by which the 
water trenches, filled by no natural agency, glow blood 
red in the rising sun, and drive the Moabites to panic. 
The miracles of Elijah are repeated for his successor, as 
the poor woman's oil is multiplied, and the hospitable 
Shunammite receives her son back to life. Miraculously 
the poisoned mess is made harmless, the scanty bread 
multiplied. A little maiden, carried captive in the Syrian 
wars which are all this while raging, brings the captain of 
Syria's hosts to be healed of his leprosy by Elisha ; accord- 
ingly — after a parenthetic miracle of the axe-head that 
swam — we find Elisha's power recognised in Samaria 
itself, and an expedition is sent against him, only to 
reveal to timid doubters the mountain full of chariots 
and horsemen round about Elisha. At last, when the 
siege of Samaria has reached the horror of women de- 
vouring their own children, the king, who witnesses it, 
exclaims, " God do so to me, and more also, if the head 
of Elisha the son of Shaphat shall stand on him this 
day : " to such a culmination has the prophetic power 
of Elisha attained that he is recognised as sole dispenser 
of doom to Israel. 

All this while Elisha has remained quiescent, the 
authority of his prophetic office none the less advanc- 
ing : he now moves forward in the other two mysteries 
revealed on Horeb. Visiting Damascus he is received 
as a prophet; he looks into the face of the Syrian king's 
messenger Hazael, and weeps at the havoc he foresees 
Hazael will hereafter work upon Israel. The glimpse 
into the future has fanned a smouldering purpose : that 
very night Hazael assassinates his master and ascends 
the throne, divinely ordained instrument of woe to Is 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 67 

from without, as Jehu is to be the instrument of ven- 
geance in their midst. 

There remains the final and climax stage in the fulfil- 
ment of the commission to Elijah and Elisha : prophetic 
story and secular history become for the time inextri- 
cably interwoven. The scene changes to Jezreel and 
its pleasant palace; Joram of Israel, wounded in the 
Syrian wars, is being nursed there, and thither comes 
Ahaziah of Judah — successor to the throne and alli- 
ance of Jehoshaphat — to visit his ally. Meanwhile 
among the captains of Israel facing the enemy at Ra- 
moth-gilead is Jehu the son of Nimshi. An envoy of 
Elisha suddenly proclaims Jehu king, and avenger of the 
prophets against the house of Ahab. The word is caught 
up by eager fellow-captains ; Jehu is hastily enthroned 
on heaped-up garments, and proclaimed king with the 
sound of trumpet. The "furious driving" of Jehu from 
Ramoth-gilead to Jezreel is a fitting symbol of the breath- 
less succession of events with which this climax works 
itself out. King Joram is smitten between the arms the 
instant he sees the treachery and turns to flee. Aha- 
ziah has a moment's warning, but escapes only to be slain 
in his flight. Jezebel is defiant to the last : she is hurled 
down from the window, and dogs devour her flesh. A 
mocking challenge is sent to the protectors of Ahab's 
sons, in Samaria : bewildered and helpless they think it 
best' to submit, and send the heads of Ahab's seventy 
sons in baskets, thus enabling Jehu to point to the 
ghastly sight as a proof that providence, not himself, is 
working the doom of Ahab's house. Next, accident 
plays its part : the brethren of Ahaziah (descendants 
therefore of Ahab) are coming from Judah to salute 



68 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

their kindred : they are taken alive and slain at the pit 
of the shearing house. With intrigue and feigned zeal 
for Baal Jehu draws the idolatrous priests into their tem- 
ple at Samaria, in order to slay all at a stroke and make 
the house of Baal a draught-house. In only one point 
has the work of vengeance remained imperfect : Atha- 
liah, daughter of Ahab and queen-mother in Judah, has 
set up Baal worship in Jerusalem itself; in a later sec- 
tion is narrated the revolution of Jehoiada, the priests 
crowning the youthful Joash, while Athaliah is slain, and 
the idolatrous worship purged from the land. 

The last stage has been reached in the career of the 
northern kingdom. Where the narrative turns to Judah 
we do hear of righteous rulers to balance the wicked 
and the wavering ; but for the kingdom of Israel history 
becomes a prophetic moralising upon a people's ruin. 
Jehu himself, his work of righteous vengeance accom- 
plished, returns to his native sinfulness. At once Hazael, 
king of Syria, begins to cut Israel short ; he and his suc- 
cessors fulfil all the prophecy of Horeb in afflicting 
Israel from the outside. There is indeed a partial 
recovery, and a second Jeroboam, under the prophetic 
ministry of Jonah, restores the border of Israel. But this 
is a last nicker of prosperity; faction and feud with 
neighbour peoples prepare the northern kingdom for a 
mightier foe. At last the Assyrians appear upon the 
scene ; vainly met for a time by bribes, the tide of inva- 
sion returns resistless. The end is reached, and the ten 
tribes are carried into captivity ; while in their place are 
established the mixed peoples who seek to fear Jehovah 
and at the same time serve their graven images, and so 
grow into the hated Samaritans of a later age. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 69 

The sacred history returns to simplicity where there is 
only the kingdom of Judah to be considered. Hezekiah 
brings back the zeal of David, and David's prosper- 
ity ; his are the glorious days of Isaiah's prophecy, and 
the ominous Assyrian invasion is met by the wonderful 
overthrow of the hosts of Sennacherib. But the son 
more than undoes the work of the father; Manasseh 
seduces Judah to do evil more than the nations whom 
the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel, and the 
voice of prophecy declares how God " will stretch over 
Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the 
house of Ahab." For a brief space brightness reappears 
with Josiah. The sudden discovery in his reign of the 
" Book of the Law" causes a wave of religious revival to 
spread over the whole people ; idolatry is purged out of 
the land for a time, and even the altar of Jeroboam at 
Bethel is overthrown. But the reformation of Josiah 
is to be considered, not an arrest in the downfall of the 
kings, but an anticipation of a future period; here we 
have, not prophets standing for righteous statesman- 
ship in national politics, but the discovery, in the Law, of 
a rallying point for the pious when Israel shall have 
ceased to be a nation. Accordingly, from the days of 
Josiah there is but the brief history of Judah's fall. 
What the Assyrians were for the northern kingdom, 
Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans are for the kingdom 
of the south. At last Jerusalem itself suffers the horrors 
of a siege ; it falls, and Judah follows Israel into captivity. 
The kingship has ceased to be ; and the ministry of 
prophets is no longer the instrument through which the 
chosen nation will express its adherence to its God. 



70 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Stories of the Exile 

The history of Israel is in the position of a river which 
runs for a time underground before it returns to view. 
There is no Bible narrative of the exile : we know indi- 
rectly that the captivity continues for some seventy years 
without break ; also, that in the interval the Babylonian 
conquerors are themselves conquered, and their domin- 
ions pass into the hands of the Medes and Persians. 
But here again appears the importance of story as an 
adjunct to history : the seven stories of the exile cast 
their brilliant light upon successive points in the life of 
the captivity. Nowhere is the charm of story greater 
than in the books of Daniel and of Esther ; and through 
these impressive narratives we are able to see how even in 
their exile the chosen people continue to witness for their 
God among the nations. 

The distinction of Babylon among the peoples is that 
it is the land of mystery ; the chief feature of its court is 
the band of astrologers, magicians, enchanters surround- 
ing the throne, and so supreme is the national interest in 
this mystic unveiling of the future that the name ' Chal- 
dean ' is synonymous with ' soothsayer.' The first of the 
stories presents four youthful captives of Judah — Daniel 
and his three companions — who are to undergo a three 
years' course of royal diet and training in the learning of 
the Chaldeans, until they are fit to join the band of the 
king's enchanters. But diet is a part of Israel's law ; 
and Daniel purposes in his heart that he will not defile 
himself with the king's meat. He challenges for himself 
and his companions the test of experience ; at the end 
of the period of training not only are the youths of Judah 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 71 

the fairest to look upon, but the king when he makes his 
examination finds them " ten times better than all the 
magicians and enchanters that were in all his realm." 
Thus the law of Israel has won a triumph over the regi- 
men of Babylon. 

While the period of training, apparently, is still in 
progress, a sudden outburst of royal panic dooms the 
whole body of wise men to destruction, because they fail, 
not to interpret a dream of the king's, but to tell the 
dream itself which has been forgotten. Daniel inter- 
poses to save them, believing that by prayer even this 
impossibility may be accomplished. He stands before 
the court of Babylon to testify that " there is a God in 
heaven that revealeth secrets." Impressively he makes 
known the thoughts that have passed from the king's 
heart, and the far future which they portend : the image 
with head all of gold, suggesting the flawless glory of 
Nebuchadnezzar ; the inferior kingdoms that shall suc- 
ceed, symbolised by the silver, brass, iron, and clay ; 
above all, the stone cut out without hands smiting the 
image to pieces and becoming a mountain, by which is 
made known a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, 
but shall break in pieces and consume all other king- 
doms. Amid oblations and incense Daniel's God is 
acknowledged, and the Judean captive himself is made 
chief governor over all the wise men of Babylon. 

In the intoxication of that glory which this dream had 
symbolised Nebuchadnezzar erects an image of himself 
on the plain of Dura, and all rulers of all his provinces 
must at its dedication bow down and worship to the strains 
of harmonious instruments. The three companions of 
Daniel alone refuse : they stand firm before the king's 



72 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

wrath, and his threat, " Who is that god that shall deliver 
you out of my hands?" They are cast bound into the 
burning fiery furnace, heated seven times beyond its 
wonted heat. The unique word ' astonied ' expresses 
the emotion of the tyrant as he beholds them walking 
free in the midst of the fire, and in their company a 
mystic fourth ; they come out from the furnace un- 
harmed, nor has the smell of fire passed on them. The 
omnipotent king makes a decree that every people, 
nation, and language which speak against the God of 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego shall be destroyed : 
" because there is no other god that is able to deliver 
after this sort." 

The fourth story is in form a royal decree ; in this 
solemn manner does Nebuchadnezzar relate, for the 
information of all the peoples, nations, and languages 
that dwell in all the earth, the wonderful incident of a 
dream of his interpreted by Daniel, and the still more 
wonderful dispensation of heaven by which the dream 
has been fulfilled. It was a dream of a fair and towering 
tree cut down, and its stump left in the earth with a band 
of iron and brass, until a mystic period had passed over 
it. So, at the very moment when Nebuchadnezzar was 
contemplating Babylon as the city built by his might and 
for his glory, the word had gone forth ; and he had been 
driven from men, and his dwelling had been with the 
beasts of the field, he had eaten grass like oxen, and his 
body had been wet with the dew of heaven ; until as he 
lifted up his eyes unto heaven his understanding returned 
unto him, and his majesty and brightness was restored. 
He blessed therefore the Most High, whose dominion is 
an everlasting dominion ; all the inhabitants of earth are 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 73 

reputed as nothing ; none can stay his hand, or say unto 
him, What doest thou ? 

Nebuchadnezzar has been succeeded by his son Bel- 
shazzar, and Daniel has been almost forgotten. The 
dynasty has reached the last day of its allotted existence, 
and the last orgy of the king and his companions is 
running riot, with the sacred vessels of Jehovah among 
the drinking cups of the dissolute host. Suddenly a 
mystic hand is beheld writing upon the wall, and the 
trembling enchanters strive in vain to decipher the doom : 
only the queen remembers the wise counsellor of the late 
reign. Daniel stands once more before the court of 
Babylon, to recite the forgotten lesson of Nebuchadnez- 
zar's fall and restoration, and to read the mystic words 
numbered, weighed, divided. That very night the con- 
quering Medes burst in upon the Chaldeans ; and the 
one crisis of world history that happens during the cap- 
tivity is seen to be the work of Israel's' God. 

Captive Israel in now under the strangest form of rule 
ever devised by man- — absolutism limited only by its 
own absoluteness : a kingship that may decree what it 
will, yet is limited by its own decree, for " the law of the 
Medes and Persians altereth not." Under Da/ius Daniel 
is a prime favourite ; envy sees that he can be assailed 
only through his fidelity to his national faith. Accordingly 
a decree is procured from the unthinking despot, that for 
thirty days no prayer shall be offered to any god but 
himself. Daniel remains unchanged in his devotions and 
is denounced : the king labours all day to deliver him, 
but is confronted by the " law of the Medes and Persians 
which altereth not." In sore distress Darius must at last 
order that Daniel be cast into the den of lions, not with- 



74 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

out hope that even here he may find protection. When 
the morrow reveals the wonder of the lions' mouths shut 
by angelic power, Darius breaks out with a decree to all 
peoples, nations, and languages, that all shall tremble and 
fear before the God of Israel ; his is the kingdom that 
shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even 
unto the end. 

There remains one more, the most elaborate of all 
scriptural stories. The hatred of neighbour peoples, 
which had troubled Israel through its whole career, pur- 
sues the exiles in captivity, and at one moment an 
Amalekite, Haman, becomes the minister and favourite 
of King Ahasuerus. Out of all the hundred and twenty- 
seven provinces of the empire a single man refuses to 
bow the knee before the favourite. When Haman learns 
that this Mordecai is a Jew, he prepares a mighty 
revenge. The lot is solemnly oast in his presence to 
select a day of doom, and then Haman procures a decree 
from the king that on that day the Jews shall be extir- 
pated from all the provinces of the vast empire. He 
knows not how Providence has been working beforehand 
to prepare for this crisis, in elevating a Jewish maiden, 
Esther, to the throne ; she now stands forth to deliver 
her people. A girl in years, she works salvation in a 
girlish manner. Taking her life in her hand, she pre- 
sents herself unsummoned before the king. When he 
holds out the sceptre of mercy Esther, with youthful sim- 
plicity, petitions that the king and Haman will come to 
a banquet which she will prepare. The flattery lulls all 
suspicions of -Haman; and the king, accustomed only to 
the voluptuous orgies of a harem, tastes for a moment 
the sweets of domestic bliss. Twice in this way Esther 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 75 

faces her king and her foe ; then, casting off the veil, she 
denounces the plot by which her own kindred are to 
be slain, and the king's empire deprived of a serviceable 
people. Harnan is hanged upon the gallows he had pre- 
pared for Mordecai ; yet there still remains the fatal 
decree, enrolled in the laws of Medes and Persians 
which alter not. But Mordecai succeeds to his rival's 
place, and devises the counter decree by which the Jews 
have leave to defend themselves. Hence when the 
allotted day arrives the blow intended for the chosen 
nation falls upon their foes. And from the midst of the 
captivity comes the Jewish feast " of Lots," in honour 
of a deliverance wrought for them by God amid their 
troubles, and brought about through the unbending 
fidelity of Mordecai and the youthful beauty of Esther. 

Chronicles of the Return and the Jewish Church 

When the historical literature of Scripture is resumed 
after the exile a marked change is seen, both in its spirit 
and its form. It was a nation that had been carried into 
captivity; it is no longer a nation that returns. To 
great part of the hosts of Israel, borne away from the 
northern and the southern kingdoms, no release from 
their captivity was ever granted ; they became merged 
in the national life of the east. When the ' proclamation 
of Cyrus granted permission to return, not all who heard 
availed themselves of the invitation ; it is said that there 
" rose up the heads of fathers' houses of Judah and 
Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, even all 
whose spirit God had stirred to go up to build the house 
of the Lord which is in Jerusalem." 1 It was a spiritual 

1 Ezra i. 5. 



76 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

purpose that brought the exiles back, and they proceeded 
to organise themselves as a spiritual community, around 
the two central ideas of a restored Temple service and 
a study of the Law under leadership of scribes. Thus, 
in place of the Hebrew People we have henceforward 
the Jewish Church. The literary product of the new 
community consists of the biblical books of Chronicles, 
Ezra, Nehemiah. The last two deal with the return ; 
in the Chronicles all previous history is retold, in a 
spirit conformable to the new conception of the relation- 
ship between God and the remnant of his chosen people. 
Previous historians have been prophets, the statesmen of 
Israel who sought to translate religious ideas into political 
action • their works combined annals of secular events 
with epic stories, of which patriarchs, judges, prophets, 
were the heroes. In the new history the prophets have 
their place, but not their former prominence. The dis- 
tinction between history and story can no longer be 
made ; the whole becomes uniform history, and, if one 
part be expanded in more vivid detail than another, it is 
because it bears upon the new religious ideals. In a 
word, we are entering upon the Ecclesiastical History of 
Israel. 

It is interesting to compare the two histories where 
they touch common ground. The most striking differ- 
ence is that the whole history of northern Israel, with its 
brilliant prophetic episodes of Elijah and Elisha, entirely 
disappears from The Chronicles ; from the moment of the 
schism the ten tribes are regarded as outside the pale 
of the Jewish Church. The ecclesiastical history ignores 
the sin of David, and the long sequel of family feuds, 
including the rebellion of Absalom and the disputed 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 77 

succession, all of which, in Samuel and in Kings, had 
covered half the ground of David's reign, being there 
regarded as fulfilment of Nathan's prophecy that the 
sword should not depart from David's house. The lyric 
compositions of David quoted in Samuel are omitted in 
Chronicles, though to balance these the latter work, char- 
acteristically, gives the sacred hymns of the ritual worship 
which David established ; it is equally characteristic that 
the elegy on Saul and Jonathan is in the chronicle his- 
tory replaced by a genealogy of Saul's house. 1 On the 
other hand, any point that may have a bearing on Temple 
service is sure to be expanded by the new historians into 
detail. In the incident of the bringing of the ark to 
Jerusalem, the prophetic history had merely mentioned 
the death of Uzzah and the terror it inspired, whereas 
the chronicle account brings out how this was a judgment 
on the neglect of levitical service for the carrying of the 
ark, and adds long lists of appointments made in this 
spirit by David for his second attempt to escort the ark. 2 < 
Similarly, while the account of the building and dedica- 
tion of Solomon's Temple is much the same in both works, 
the chronicle history contains in addition, at great length, 
David's preparations for the work to be carried out by 
his son, and the regular courses of priestly service which 
he established. 3 In later history it is remarkable that 
Kings relates the reign of Manasseh without a hint of his 
repentance ; Chronicles adds the repentance and restora- 
tion of this ruler, in close connection no doubt with the 

1 Compare II Samuel i with / Chronicles ix. 35. 

2 Compare II Samuel vi. 6-12 with / Chronicles xiii. 1-14 and 
xv, xvi. 

3 / Chronicles xvii, xxii-xxix. 



78 BIBLICAL HISTORY AXD STORY 

good works he accomplished in strengthening the defen- 
sive power of the holy city. 1 

The reigns of individual rulers come to have quite a 
different colour from the changed spirit of the history. 
In Ki?igs the brief annals of Abijam's reign leave no 
impression but that of war and wickedness ; the ecclesi- 
astical historian relates at length this king's wars with 
Israel, and presents him as a hero of Judah, whose 
address to the enemy deserves lengthy citation, as em- 
bodying most powerfully the whole spirit of the books 
of Chronicles} 

Ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the 
hands of the sons of David; and ye be a great multitude, and 
there are with you the golden calves which Jeroboam made 
you for gods. Have ye not driven out the priests of the Lord, 
the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you priests 
after the manner of the peoples of other lands? So that who- 
soever cometh to consecrate himself with a young bullock and 
seven rams, the same may be a priest of them that are no 
gods? But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not 
forsaken him; and we have priests ministering unto the Lord, 
the sons of Aaron, and the Levites in their work : and they 
burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt 
offerings and sweet incense; the shewbread also set they in 
order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with 
the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the 
charge of the Lord our God ; but ye have forsaken him. 
And, behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with 
the trumpets of alarm to sound an alarm against you. O chil- 
dren of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord, the God of your 
fathers, for ye shall not prosper. 

1 Compare II Kings xxi and // Chronicles xxx:::. 
- Compare / Kings xv. 1-9 with // Chronicles xiii. The Chronicles 
name the king Abijah. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 79 

It is with the same zeal to find the new religious fer- 
vour in the ancient history that the chronicler delights to 
tell how, in the reign of Asa, the people entered into a 
covenant to seek the Lord, and " that whoever would 
not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to 
death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.'' l 

When we come -to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, 
which deal with the return, a further change is to be 
noted in literary form ; here we have not even history, 
but historical documents, the materials out of which his- 
tory may be constructed. One who reads in ordinary 
versions of the Bible is here in danger, unless he use 
great caution, of mistaking for continuous narrative what 
is really a series of disconnected chronicles ; between 
one sentence and the next there may be a gap in time 
and a change of subject. 

The first part of The Book of Ezra 2 relates the return 
under Zerubbabel. This has for its object the rebuilding 
of the Temple. In the seventh month the returned exiles 
come from their cities to the ruined Jerusalem, set the 
altar upon its base, and recommence the daily offerings 
and the periodical feasts. At length they lay the foun- 
dation of the new Temple, amid rejoicings of the younger 
men, w T hile the older men weep at the thought of the 
more glorious Temple that has been destroyed. The 
peoples who have inhabited the neighbourhood during 
the captivity, mingling the service of Jehovah with idola- 
try, seek to unite with the men of the return and are 
coldly repulsed ; they then make interest with the Per- 
sian court, and succeed in restraining the work of re- 

1 // Chronicles xv. 13-14. 

2 For references see Chronicles in the Appendix. 



SO BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

building until the second year of Darius. Lender appeals 
from the prophets Haggai and Zechariah the work is then 
resumed. A second attempt is made to oppose, but the 
ruling of Darius forces the governor and his companions 
to assist the Temple builders. The Temple is thus dedi- 
cated, and the courses of the Levites resumed. The lat- 
ter part of TJie Book of Ezra relates to another return, 
under the leadership of Ezra himself. It contains Ezra's 
memoirs of the journey, and shows the zeal with which 
he threw himself into the reform by which marriages 
between the restored exiles and the peoples of the land 
were put down. The personal narrative is prefaced with 
an introduction by some editor, who continues it where 
Ezra's own writing abruptly ceases. 

We reach a further stage of the return with The Book 
f Nehemiah ; it is not now the Temple, but the walls of 
the holy city that are to be restored. The strong per- 
sonality of this great leader gives a vivid interest to the 
successive parts of his narrative : the mournfulness which 
draws from his royal patrons permission to return ; the 
solitary night ride in which he views the ruined fortifi- 
cations ■ the organisation of the builders in companies 
vying with one another in the good work ; the scornful 
opposition of powerful neighbours, and the resource 
with which Nehemiah meets it, prepared at all moments 
alike for building and fighting ; the noble spirit with 
which the governor leads the way in foregoing taxes 
and exaction of debts, lest the poorer exiles suffer 
oppression : the wariness with which every trap set to 
entice Nehemiah himself from the work is evaded. The 
rebuilding is carried to completion, and the defence 
of the city regularly organised. Later on in the same 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 81 

book 1 are more memoirs of Nehemiah, dealing with such 
incidents as the Dedication of the Walls, a Purification 
of the Temple, and Reforms of Sabbath Observance and 
of Marriage Customs. In the middle part of the book 
we have (besides certain Statistics of the Return) the 
important incident of the Renewal of the Covenant 2 
under Ezra and Nehemiah. 

In this last-mentioned incident the return has attained 
full realisation, and the historical literature of the Old 
Testament may fitly conclude. The people gather 
themselves from their cities as one man to the broad 
place before the water gate of Jerusalem. Ezra the 
scribe stands " upon a pulpit of wood " : the first appear- 
ance of the pulpit in sacred history is a reminder how 
the nation has been replaced by the church. The read- 
ing of the Law day after day, the weeping of the people 
and the attempts to comfort them, make the whole a 
religious revival service ; the dwelling in booths suggests 
the modern camp meeting. Toward the close of the 
month comes the most solemn assembly of all. The 
people stand up and read in the book of the Law a 
fourth part of the day, and another fourth part they con- 
fess and worship the Lord. The Levites lead them in a 
long survey of their whole history : the covenant between 
God and Abraham to give his seed the land of promise ; 
the long series of providential mercies by which the 
promise was made good ; the persistent unfaithfulness of 
the people, punished by deliverance into the hands of 
enemies ; the mercies that have saved them again and 
again, and even now not made a full end of them : — 

1 xii. 27; for references generally see Chronicles in the Appendix. 

2 vii. 73-x. 



82 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the 
terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the 
travail seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our 
kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, 
and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of 
the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit thou art just in 
all that has come upon us; for thou hast dealt truly, but we 
have done wickedly. . . . Behold, we are servants this day, 
and as for the land which thou gavest unto our fathers to 
eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are 
servants in it. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings 
whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they 
have power over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleas- 
ure, and we are in great distress. And yet for all this we 
make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, our 
Levites, and our priests, seal unto it. 

The covenant so often renewed between God and the 
chosen nation is renewed yet once more : but those who 
now enter into it have forfeited their independent nation- 
ality, and are binding themselves into a new community, 
for the service of Jehovah's Temple, and the observance 
of his sacred Law. 



An Epilogue to Old Testament History 

The historical books of the Old Testament have been 
reviewed ; but there is outside these historical books a 
literary work which may in some sort stand as epilogue 
to the history of Israel. The last twenty-seven chapters 
of our Book of Isaiah make up the rhapsody, or spirit- 
ual drama, of " Zion Redeemed." It is a stupendous 
literary monument : the form is magnificent, though 
obscure to a modern reader; the underlying thought 
is of such deep spiritual significance that this part of 



• 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 83 

the Bible is the chief foundation alike of Hebrew and 
of Christian theology. We are not concerned here with 
the work as a whole ; but a single one out of its many- 
trains of interest may be followed, as one which brings 
the history of Israel into the unity of a single thought. 

A dramatic vision is opened 1 of the nations of the 
world summoned before the bar of God. In rapid sketch 
we have the idolatrous peoples, to the farthest islands of 
the west, assembling with panic : 2 the carpenter encour- 
ages the goldsmith, hammer-smoother and anvil-smiter 
look to the soldering of the graven images, that they 
may stand in the shock of confronting the true God. 
For Israel, as its exiles from the ends of the earth obey 
the summons, 3 there are tender words of protection, 
and the wilderness blossoms for them while they pass 
through. The scene is to be conceived as complete : 4 
the nations on the one side,* Israel on the other, before 
the judgment seat of heaven. Then Jehovah makes 
challenge to the idols of the nations. 

Declare ye the former things, what they be, that we may 
consider them, and know the latter end of them; or shew us 
things for to come. 

" Former things " and " things for to come " are brought 
together here : the gods of the nations are challenged 
to interpret the whole train of events from first to last, 
to put upon the course of history such meaning as will 

1 Chapter xli. i. The islands [of Greece, etc.] are the usual western 
limit of the prophetic world: a summons to the 'islands' is equivalent 
to a summons of the whole earth. Compare verse 5 and xlix. 1. To 
appreciate fully the dramatic character of this portion of Isaiah it should 
be read in a properly printed text, e.g. the Isaiah volume of the Modern 
Reader's Bible. 

2 xli. 5-7. 3 xli. 8-20. 4 xli. 21. 



84 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

be seen when Jehovah unfolds his* world plan. The chal- 
lenge is met with silence : l the idols are but vanity and 
nothingness. Then is unfolded the interpretation of 
Jehovah : and it is the proclamation of Israel as his 
servant. 2 

Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom 
my soul delighteth : I have put my spirit upon him; he shall 
bring forth judgement to the nations. He shall not cry. nor 
lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised 
reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not 
quench : he shall bring forth judgement in truth. He shall 
not burn dimly nor be bruised, till he have set judgement in 
the earth; and the isles shall wait for his law. 

To most readers these words are familiar in their second- 
ary applications ; we must not forget that in the context 
where they originally occur their reference is to Israel, 
who is Jehovah's Servant to make him known to the 
nations. Not by violence and conquest (as Israel had 
once dreamed), but by agencies gentle as the light is he 
to win the peoples to Jehovah's law. But, the proclama- 
tion goes on to show, Israel has been blind to his sacred 
mission, and by his sins has fallen into the prison houses 
of the Gentiles. 

Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that 
I send? Who is blind as he that is at peace with me, and 
blind as the Lord's servant ? Thou seest many things, but 
thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not. It 
pleased the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the 
law, and make it honourable. But this is a people robbed and 
spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid 

1 xli. 24, 28-29. 

2 Chapter xlii. 1-9 and xlii. 14-xliii. 8; the intervening passage (xlii. 
10-13) is one of the numerous lyric interruptions of Jehovah's speech. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 85 

in prison houses : they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for 
a spoil, and none saith, Restore. . . . But now thus saith the 
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O 
Israel : Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. 

Gracious promises of redemption flow forth, up to the 
climax — 

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf 
that have ears. 

Thus with Israel's deliverance from the prison houses of 
Babylon comes at the same time his enlightenment to his 
spiritual mission. 

The moment of time making the occasion to which all 
this proclamation is pointing is, of course, the deliverance 
from captivity under Cyrus. 1 God has called one from 
the north and from the rising of the sun, to tread the 
nations like clay, and set Jehovah's exiles free. Yet this 
salvation is not wrought for Israel's sake alone. 2 

For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; he is 
God; that formed the earth and made it; he established it, he 
created it not a waste, he formed it to be inhabited. . . . Look 
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. 

It is thus reiterated that in Israel's salvation a world is 
being saved. Babylon, in all its pride of conquest, had 
been but an unconscious instrument of God. 3 The 
victorious career of Cyrus was but a single detail in a 
Divine plan : the vanquished nations had been the price 
paid to Cyrus for the deliverance he was about to effect ; 
the peoples had crouched, not before Cyrus, but before 
the God that was hidden in him : 4 — 

1 Chapter xli. 25 ; compare Chapter xlv. 

2 Chapter xlv. 18-24. 

3 Chapter xlvii, especially verse 6. 

4 Chapter xlv. 14. 



86 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and 
the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and 
they shall be thine; they shall go after thee; in chains they 
shall come over : and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall 
make supplication unto thee : " Sureiy God is in thee : and 
there is none else, there is no God. Verily thou art a God 
that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." 

As the drama progresses we find Israel speaking, awak- 
ened at length to his mission as Jehovah's Servant. 1 

Listen, O isles, unto m'e; and hearken, ye peoples, from far; 
the Lord hath called me from the womb, . . . and he said 
unto me, Thou art my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glori- 
fied. But I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my 
strength for nought and vanity: yet surely my judgement is 
with the Lord, and my recompence with my God. And now 
saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, 
to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel may be gathered 
unto him : . . . yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou 
shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to 
restore the preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light 
to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end 
of the earth. 

Later on in the rhapsody, among the Songs of Zion 
Exalted, we find one which presents redeemed Zion in 
its mission of witnessing to the Gentiles. 2 Jehovah 
speaks : — 

Behold, I have given him for ^ witness to the peoples, a 
leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, thou shalt call 
a nation that thou knowest not, and a nation that knew n I 
thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and 
for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. 

1 Chapter xlix. 

2 Chapter Iv: verses 4-5, 8-n,are the words of Jehovah ; the rest the 
words of Zion. See the Isaiah volume of the Modern Reader s Bible, 
pages 178-180, and 217. 



THE HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL 87 

With this is heard the song of Zion addressing the na- 
tions, commissioned to admit them into the covenant 
of David. 

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 

And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; 
Yea, come, buy wine and milk, 

Without money and without price. . . . 

Incline your ear, and come unto me, 

Hear, and your soul shall live : 
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, 

Even the sure mercies of David. . . . 

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, 

Call ye upon him while he is near: 
Let the wicked forsake his way, 

And the unrighteous man his thoughts : 

And let him return unto the Lord, 

And he will have mercy upon him; 
And to our God, 

For he will abundantly pardon. 

All nature exults in the climax of a world of nations 
thronging to Zion. 

For ye shall go out with joy, 

And be led forth with peace : 
The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you 
into singing, 

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Thus the whole of history, otherwise a chaos, becomes 
a clear unity in the light of the Divine plan. When the 
covenants made by God with all mankind had, again and 
again, broken down in a triumph of sin, one nation is 
chosen out of the world to be God's peculiar people ; not 
however for their own sakes only, but that in their seed 
ail peoples of the earth might be blessed. Israel, unfaith- 



88 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

ful to his God, sinks into the idolatry against which he 
was to have been a living protest ; the chosen people are 
for their sins scattered through the idolatrous nations, as 
through so many prison houses. Captivity recalls the 
Israelites to their sacred work; it brings them also in 
i.ouch with the peoples who through them are to be 
blessed. Then — like the completing of an electric cir- 
cuit that brings the flash of discovery — comes the con- 
quering career of Cyrus, and the deliverance that makes 
the Divine plan clear. Israel emerges from Babylon, 
no longer assimilated to the secular government of the 
nations, but a people organised for a spiritual work, 
waiting until the Church of Israel shall expand into the 
Church Universal. 

Such is the History of the People of Israel as Presented 
by Themselves. 



CHAPTER III 

THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH AS 
PRESENTED BY ITSELF 

Between the point where the narrative of the Old 
Testament leaves off and that where the narrative of the 
New Testament begins there is an interval of some four 
centuries. During this period the Jews changed little, 
the rest of the world was wholly transformed. The seat 
of power had shifted from the far east to the far west ; 
the civilised world had become the Roman empire ; by 
permission of Rome Herod and other kings reigned in 
the holy land, and in time a Roman governor was found 
in Jerusalem. A new intellectual life had commenced 
for the world under the leadership of the Greeks j though 
this affected the Jews of Palestine comparatively little, it 
had permeated other countries into which the Christian 
Church was destined to extend. In the midst of this 
changing world the Jews from the time of the return 
had never lost their distinctiveness as a spiritual people. 
The religion of the Law, under leadership of scribes and 
rabbis, had gradually stiffened into a system of fanaticism ; 
the ' Tradition of the Elders ' had covered over the Law 
itself with a host of unwritten precepts, themes of end- 
less disputations, and making life a burden of ceremonial 
usages and things to be avoided. Geographically, the 
holy land now appears in the form of three provinces : 
the southern province is Judaea, focus of the religious 

89 



90 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

zeal of the people ; there is an inferior province of 
Galilee round the northern lake ; between is the province 
of the Samaritans, hated as descendants of the mixed 
peoples who inhabited the holy land during the exile, 
and mingled worship of Jehovah with heathen supersti- 
tions. Among religious parties two stand out as promi- 
nent : the Pharisees, great upholders of traditions, the 
worship of angels, and the doctrine of a future life ; the 
Sadducees, who appear in the New Testament as oppo- 
nents of the resurrection doctrine and the belief in angels, 
and who take their stand on the Law itself. Both agree 
in hating the Roman conqueror, and looking eagerly for 
the Messiah of prophecy, who should lead the Jews to the 
conquest of the world. 

If we make a proper arrangement of our materials it 
is possible to see that the literary characteristics distin- 
guishing narrative in the Old Testament are, with the 
natural modifications, continued in the New Testament. 
Old Testament narrative is a combination of history and 
story : connected annals of mere events, and vivid inci- 
dents which from time to time bring out the real spirit 
of the history. But where the theme is the sacred work 
of Jesus, and its continuation by his successors, the 
eminent points will be, not incidents that make a sub- 
ject for stories, but rather thoughts which find expres- 
sion in discourse. Accordingly, the gospels are made 
up of the Acts and Words of Jesus : the Words — of 
parable or discourse — scattered through the Acts just 
as the stories are interspersed in the annals of the older 
narrative. Again, one book contains the ' Acts of the 
Apostles ' ; but for the successive Words, or discourses in 
which the apostles expressed the spirit of their minis- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 91 

try, we have to go outside this book to the separate 
works entitled ' Epistles.' It is practicable, however, to 
introduce the several epistles at their proper points of 
connection with the narrative ; thus by a combination 
of The Book of Acts with The Epistles the second stage of 
the history can be assimilated to the first. In this way 
the present chapter proposes to follow the History of the 
New Testament Church as Presented by Itself. It may 
be added that of the four gospels available two belong to 
a different division of literature, and will be considered 
at the proper place ; while that of St. Mark seems to be 
a simple succession of memoirs. It is The Gospel of St 
Luke that will be followed here ; both because his is the 
narrative which is continued in Acts, and also because St. 
Luke's preface manifests him as having the bent of an 
historian, who out of the best traditions " traces the 
course of all things accurately from the first," and then 
"writes in order." 

The Life of Jesus 

Where the purpose is not to narrate or even sketch 
the history, but simply to introduce to the literature in 
which it is contained, it may well happen that the most 
important parts of the history are precisely the parts 
that need the briefest treatment. The incidents of 
Christ's life are so familiar, and the style of St. Luke so 
perspicuous, that nothing is requisite here except to indi- 
cate the principles of connection in the author's mind, 
which seem to govern the order of narration and the 
prominence given to different parts. In the preliminary 
section, which precedes the ministry of Jesus, even this 



92 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

is unnecessary. It is obvious how St. Luke has carried 
his inquiries back to the earliest announcement received 
by the parents of the birth that is coming, alike of Jesus 
and his forerunner John ; there follow the births of the 
two, the testimony borne to Jesus when he is presented 
in the Temple, the incident of his boyhood showing his 
attraction to the house of his Father. The ministry of 
John then appears as a call to repentance, pointing to a 
greater successor; the successor is divinely indicated 
when Jesus comes to be baptized. The baptism is fol- 
lowed by the temptation in the wilderness ; and then the 
way is left free for Jesus to commence his ministry. 

The ministry of Jesus, prior to the final incidents in 
Jerusalem, appears in Luke's narrative to fall into two 
main divisions. 1 The first is the ministry in Galilee. 
With an historian's instinct, Luke makes his first incident 
the appearance of Jesus in his own city, and his claim to 
be the Redeemer pictured in The Book of Isaiah. With 
this are associated what would seem to be typical sketches 
of his daily life : a general work of healing and notable 
examples, casting out of devils, preaching in the syna- 
gogues and prayer in desert places, the call of followers. 
Soon opposition begins to show itself : the forgiveness of 
sins appears to the Pharisees blasphemy, objection is 
taken to companying with publicans and sinners, to 
works of necessity and mercy on the sabbath ; Jesus 
makes answer to all. There is the first suggestion of 
organisation in the choice of the twelve disciples ; with 
these before him Jesus speaks the Sermon on the Mount, 
which embodies his general moral teaching. We now 
find a group of more notable events : a Roman centurion 
1 For references, see Life of Jesus in the Appendix. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 93 

recognises the authority of Christ j a youth is raised from 
the dead; the doubting message from John the Baptist 
brings out how the popular religious movement of the 
hour is pronounced an inferior dispensation ; the beauti- 
ful incident of the sinful woman stealing in to the Phari- 
see's feast to anoint the feet of Jesus marks the novelty 
of the religion, in which one who loves much appears 
more important than one who has little to be forgiven. 
The company of followers seems to attain further or- 
ganisation when to the twelve is added a band of women 
who minister of their substance. Jesus now, with his 
parable of the Sower, inaugurates a mode of teaching 
which makes a distinction between the inner body of 
disciples, who are admitted to the interpretation, and 
the outer world, who rest content with the word of para- 
ble. Round the shores of the lake as a scene are 
grouped a series of impressive events : calming of the 
stormy sea, casting out the legion of devils, raising 
Jairus's daughter from the dead. Then the band of 
followers is further organised for missionary work, and 
the twelve are sent out to preach and heal. At last we 
reach the climax of this section, and the turning point in 
the life of Jesus. Peter speaks his recognition of the 
Christ : Jesus immediately follows this with the new 
revelation that the Son of man is to suffer and die, and 
the new religion is founded on a self-denial that must be 
ready to give up life itself. To crown this complete 
revelation comes the Transfiguration, and Jesus dis- 
courses with the types of Law and Prophets on the 
decease about to be accomplished at Jerusalem. When 
all are astonished at the newly seen "majesty of God," 
Jesus insists again upon the coming death ; when they 



94 BIBLICAL HISTORY AXD STORY 

are moved with expectation of a wonderful revolution, he 
uses the symbol of a child in their midst to point the 
lesson, He that is least among you is great. 

We now read that Jesus " stedfastly set his face to go 
to Jerusalem": this Way to Jerusalem is the next main 
division of St. Luke's narrative, and through the succes- 
sion of events we can plainly feel the growing expecta- 
tion of some ' kingdom of God ' to be revealed at the 
journey's end. Sometimes the order of incidents is 
determined by connection with local spots on the route, 
which have been fixed by the accurate historian. Thus, 
the way lies through Samaria : local hostility- draws pas- 
sion from the disciples, which Jesus rebukes, and (a little 
later) in his parable of the Good Samaritan he extends 
the idea of neighbour to all mankind. Similarly, we are 
introduced to the home of Mary and Martha ; with one 
" certain place " are connected the Lord's Prayer and its 
accompanying parable of the Importunate Friend, with 
another the incident of the ten lepers, of whom only one 
returned to give thanks for his healing ; with Jericho we 
get the stories of blind Bartimaeus and Zacchaeus. But 
for the most part the thread of connection running 
through this part of the narrative is the growing expecta- 
tion of the kingdom. Amid the great things that are 
being looked for the spirit of mammon begins to appear : 
an imitation to Jesus to arbitrate in a question of an 
estate draws forth the indignant parable of the Rich 
Fool, thinking only of new storehouses while his last day 
was upon him ; and a little later we have the parables 
of the Unjust Steward, of the Rich Man and the Beggar 
Lazarus. The growing hopes of Christ's followers are 
met by growing opposition from outside. On the one 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 95 

hand, the miracles of healing are ascribed to demon 
agency ; on the other hand, a sign from heaven is de- 
manded. The omission by Jesus of ceremonial ablution 
in a Pharisee's house leads to a denunciation of the whole 
tradition of ceremonial observances, and of the Pharisees 
and lawyers who bind this burden on the people ; at 
last the parable of the Supper, to which the invited guests 
came not, but the blind and lame were brought in from 
streets and lanes, is accepted as a final breach between 
the new teacher and the spiritual aristocracy of his day. 
All through this part of the narrative the suggestion of 
ever increasing multitudes reflects the advancing expec- 
tation of the kingdom to be revealed. Jesus has to 
repress the ardour of those about him, with discourse of 
the narrow way, of counting the cost ; it is a mixed mul- 
titude, and when objection is taken to the presence of 
publicans and sinners we have for answer the parables 
of the Lost Sheep, of the Prodigal Son. At the close of 
this section expression is given to the general spirit of 
inquiry, whether the kingdom is immediately to appear. 
Jesus seems in vain to insist that this kingdom " cometh 
not with observation"; he enlarges upon the spirit of 
preparedness, of praying without fainting, and character- 
istic parables enforce this teaching — parables of the 
Unjust Judge, the Pharisee and the Publican, of the Good 
and Evil Servants, and how they used their talents while 
awaiting their lord. 

In the final division of St. Luke's gospel, which pre- 
sents Jesus in Jerusalem, the course of events moves on 
with the utmost simplicity through the most pregnant 
days of the sacred history. We have the triumphal 
entry into Jerusalem, followed by the cleansing of the 



96 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Temple. Then representatives of the ruling classes 
challenge the authority of the new leader, or endeavour 
to entangle him with carefully contrived questions: 
Jesus makes answer to each challenge or question, but 
meets the general spirit which has prompted them with 
the parable of the Husbandmen, who, after slaying their 
lord's messengers, hesitated not at last to slay the heir 
himself. The sight of the splendid Temple draws from 
Jesus the unveiling of the future troubles, in which not 
one stone of the great building shall be left standing 
upon another. At last we have the Passover, the arrest 
of Jesus and his trial, the Crucifixion and Resurrection. 
The risen Lord, first to the disciples in their walk to 
Emmaus, then to the whole body gathered at Jerusalem, 
unfolds the scripture concerning himself : — 

Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise 
again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all the 
nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Ye are witnesses of these 
things. 

In these words is given the commission to the apostles. 
The acts of these apostles in carrying out this commis- 
sion make the second part of the New Testament history. 

The Acts of the Apostles 

To the book entitled The Acts of the Apostles objec- 
tion has been made by some readers on the ground of 
the imperfect cohesion of its parts, as if the purpose 
found to underlie its latter part was different from the 
purpose of the earlier sections; on the ground again of 
the abrupt conclusion suggestive of a work left imper- 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 97 

feet. I would say, on the contrary, that as a piece of 
literature The Book of Acts is singularly complete and 
coherent, if regard be had to the purpose of the whole 
as laid down in the title. To the apostles a certain 
commission has been given : they are witnesses of Christ 
"both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea and Samaria, and 
unto the uttermost part of the earth." 1 Accordingly, 
the book relates, with fulness and simplicity, the wit- 
ness in Jerusalem, and again in the rest of the holy land. 
But how is it possible to present the witnessing " unto 
the uttermost part of the earth"? It is clear that a 
book which confines itself to the original apostles can 
deal with this work of all time only in embryo : it can 
display typical movements, germs of infinite expansions 
in the future. This is what The Book of Acts does : it 
follows successive widenings, in the classes of people 
reached by the word, in the instruments by which the 
work is carried forward : when the chief agent of this 
expansion is seen in the metropolis of the civilised 
world a natural place is found for this embryonic history 
of Christianity to stop. But though as a narrative Acts 
is complete, its history may be made yet more complete 
by bringing to bear upon it other parts of the New Tes- 
tament, which will supply what narrative cannot accom- 
plish. In the growth of the Christian Church the most 
important element is the expansion, not of area, but of 
ideas : the epistles of the apostles supplement the narra- 
tive of their acts, and reflect the advancing mind of the 
church. It is thus by a combination of narrative Acts 
and apostolic Epistles that the New Testament presents 
the church history of the period it covers. 
i Acts i. 8. 



98 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 



The witness at Jerusalem is commenced when the city 
is at its fullest for the Feast of Pentecost. The apos- 
tles, with their small band of followers, had waited in 
quietness and prayer for the supernatural manifestation 
which was to be a signal for their work to begin. It 
comes on the day of Pentecost, in the rushing, mighty 
wind, and the " tongues parting asunder like as of fire," 
while, when the apostles speak, all who listen hear each 
in his own language. Thus the miracle of Babel, which 
in the Old Testament had accompanied the dispersal of 
races previous to the call of a peculiar people for God, 
has been now reversed. Like the supernatural emblems 
of prophecy, this gift of tongues remains through the 
early days of the church, to symbolise the mighty work 
at last begun, of drawing all the diverse races of man- 
kind into one universal fold. When Peter- speaks for 
his brethren, it is the resurrection of Jesus on which 
he takes his stand. The word brings converts by thou- 
sands, who unite into a fellowship, with community of 
life, and meetings for teaching and worship. A notable 
miracle of the apostles brings upon them the attack of 
the ruling authorities; it is the party of the Sadducees 
that is in power, and they are scandalised at the clam- 
orous assertion of a resurrection. But the followers of 
Jesus are only made more staunch by persecution. A 
more determined uprising of official authority follows, 
with threats even of death; but the influence of Gama- 
liel prevails, and the council are induced to let the new 

* For these divisions, and references generally, see Acts of the Apostles 
in the Appendix. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 99 

movement take its course, in the hope that " if this work 
be of men, it will be overthrown." 

We soon come upon the significant sentence that 
" there arose a murmuring of the Grecian Jews against 
the Hebrews," first appearance of the two elements 
within the fellowship of the apostles, the conflict of 
which was to make an early phase of Christian history. 
At this point, however, it is no more than a question of 
administration, and this is easily met by the appoint- 
ment of deacons to supplement the more spiritual work of 
the apostles. Of these new deacons the chief is Stephen; 
his powerful words as combatant for the new teaching 
draw fierce opposition, culminating in a trial before 
the Sanhedrin and the first Christian martyrdom. 
Among those who stand approvingly at this judicial 
murder is the young Pharisee Saul. The persecution 
thus commenced extends, and drives the followers of 
Jesus out of Jerusalem; in this way the evangelisation of 
Samaria and Galilee and the remoter parts of Judaea is 
accomplished. But the persecution is as widespread as 
the preaching : Saul is on his way to Damascus to make 
arrests when he is overtaken by the heavenly vision, and 
the spiritual experiences which transform him from a 
persecutor of the faith to its leading champion. After 
this event the persecution of the new Way seems to cease 
for a time ; we read that the church throughout all Ju- 
dsea and Galilee and Samaria had peace, being edified. 

We have proceeded thus far in our apostolic history : 
of the original commission to the apostles two portions 
have been fully executed; the immense third — the wit- 
ness to the uttermost part of the earth — remains, yet 

already that powerful personality has appeared through 
Lof C. 



100 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

whose agency chiefly the new work of the church is to 
be executed. What follows next is not a territorial, but 
a spiritual expansion. Wherever the gospel had spread 
before this it had gone only to Jews or Judaising Greeks : 
the new movement has now to traverse the gulf that 
separates between Jew and Gentile, the chosen nation 
with their life of legal ceremony, and the uncleanness 
of uncircumcised peoples outside the ranks of Israel. 
At crises like these there always appears, in the narra- 
tive of The Acts, the supernatural power that is behind 
human agency. It is prophetic vision that beckons to 
the new departure. The Roman Cornelius, in Caesarea, 
sees his vision bidding send for Peter; Peter on the 
housetop in Joppa beholds the symbol of the fourfooted 
and creeping things, and hears the word, What God has 
cleansed call not thou unclean. Peter accompanies the 
messengers, and, preaching to the Gentile audience in 
the house of Cornelius, recognises the gift of tongues 
and all the outward signs of the Holy Ghost : he dares 
the act of baptism. The brethren in Judaea hear and 
inquire: upon receiving Peter's testimony they cannot 
withhold their witness, "Then to the Gentiles also hath 
God granted repentance unto life." As we read on we 
feel how we have entered upon a new epoch. It soon 
appears how Antioch has become as truly a centre for 
Gentile Christianity as Jerusalem was a centre of Juda- 
ism. It is now that the new name 'Christians ' appears: 
the early converts had been regarded only as a 'way ' or 
order of the Jews. And if the historian proceeds at this 
point to narrate the persecution in Jerusalem, under 
which James was slain and Peter imprisoned and deliv- 
ered by ministry of angels, it is only, as it were, to wind 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 101 

up this first chapter of the Christian history, in which 
Jerusalem and the twelve apostles had been the centre. 
Henceforth interest is transferred to Paul and the exten- 
sion of Christianity over the vast Gentile world, the other 
apostles and Jerusalem appearing only incidentally, and 
as they affect Gentile history. 



New departures in ideals of Christian work are likely 
to bring new institutions. We now find recognised as a 
leading instrument for the evangelisation of the world 
the Missionary Journey, by which might be organised 
local communities with independent Christian life of 
their own, yet linked through their founders or other 
missionaries with Christian communities elsewhere. It 
is in the Gentile metropolis of Antioch that this institu- 
tion of the Missionary Journey first makes its appearance, 
amid prophecy and fasting, and special influence of the 
Holy Ghost. The two first ordained to the work are 
Paul, whose wide culture marked him out as fittest to 
encounter Gentile thought, and Barnabas, the Hebrew 
who had been the first to appreciate Paul's special value, 
and had brought him to Antioch as soon as Gentiles had 
been admitted by Peter. The first missionary journey 
is described, with details enough to show the method of 
working; more especially, the way in which the apostles 
carry their message to Jews first, and only on the oppo- 
sition of the Jews turn to the Gentiles. Miracles attend 
the preaching of the missionaries, persecution follows 
them from city to city; in Lystra they have the double 
experience of being worshipped as deities and then 
stoned as malefactors. 



102 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

It was inevitable that, sooner or later, the two ele- 
ments within the fellowship of the apostles should come 
into conflict. It had needed the authority of miracle 
even to introduce the novel idea that Gentiles as well 
as Jews were partakers in the new faith. But of those 
accepting this revelation only a very few accepted it in 
its entirety: to most it appeared that Gentiles could 
become Christians only by first becoming Jews; that the 
rite of circumcision and the whole law of Moses was 
obligator} 7 . Paul and his missionary colleague stoutly 
contested this idea; and at last a deputation went to 
Jerusalem to consult with the brethren there. In the 
famous gathering that met to consider this weighty 
matter Peter, through whom had been revealed the sal- 
vation of the Gentiles, pointed out that on the miracu- 
lous occasion of their first admission the signs of the 
Holy Ghost had been bestowed on Gentiles precisely as 
before on Jews, God making no difference. The apos- 
tles of the Gentiles followed with witness to the signs 
and wonders that had attended their work. Then 
James, representing the most venerable and purely Jew- 
ish tradition, illustrated how prophecy had contemplated 
the^ ingathering of the Gentiles, and himself proposed 
the great eirenicon, that the new converts should be 
asked to forego certain idolatrous customs specially 
shocking to their Jewish brethren. In a circular letter 
this eirenicon was sent abroad : thus conflict was changed 
into consolation, and in the most formal manner recog- 
nition was given to a non-circumcision Christianity. 

It is usual to distinguish three missionary journeys of 
St. Paul. To me this seems misleading if offered as a 
principle of analysis for The Book of Acts. Stress is 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 103 

rightly laid on the first missionary journey, for this 
comes as a new institution in the extension of Christen- 
dom. But from this point onwards the particular 
itineraries of the apostle become of small importance; 
indeed, the so-called second and third journeys are 
found to mingle almost in the same sentence. 1 On the 
other hand, what comes into prominence as a landmark 
of the narrative is a new expansion of Christianity, its 
spread from Asia into Europe, from the region of the 
past to the region of future history. It is round this first 
preaching of the word in Europe that there gather the 
signs of providential guidance and supernatural vision. 2 

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, hav- 
ing been forbidden of the Holy Ghost to speak the word in 
Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they 
assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered 
them not; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night : There was a man 
of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over 
into Macedonia, and help us. And when he had seen the 
vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, con- 
cluding that God had called us for to preach the Gospel unto 
them. 

We pass into a new phase of St. Paul's career, which, 
though interrupted by other journey ings, has its main 
character given to it by great cities of Europe, or the 
European coast of Asia. We read of the Roman colony 
of Philippi, with its incident of imprisonment and mid- 
night earthquake, where Paul claims his right as a Roman 
citizen. Thessalonica, Bercea, have their scenes of 

1 Acts xviii. 23 : " And having spent some time there [at Antiocfi\ he 
departed : " this is all that separates the two. 

2 Acts xvi. 6. 



104 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

preaching and of persecution from Jewish opponents. 
At Athens Paul confronts the intellectual aristocracy of 
the world; at Corinth he is in one of its commercial 
capitals; in Ephesus he encounters the magnificent 
Diana worship. Paul's mode of life becomes some- 
what more stable : terms measured by years are given 
as periods of stay in a place; at Corinth he enters into 
partnership with a tent-maker, elsewhere he gives daily 
lectures for a space of two years. It is by vision that 
Paul (at Corinth 1 ) is led to contemplate a protracted 
stay : this leads us to the expectation that the change in 
his habits is to reflect a change in his mission. And 
this is found to be the case. A point has been reached 
at which the development of Christianity is to consist, 
not so much in enrolment of new churches, but in build- 
ing up those that already stand; not in the simple work 
of evangelisation, but in ecclesiastical statesmanship and 
the philosophy of Christian life. Accordingly, it is in 
connection with his work in the great cities that we find 
the first group of Paul's pastoral epistles. 



To the Missionary Journey is thus added another 
institution of early Christianity — the Missionary Epis- 
tle. The apostles were in some sort successors of the 
prophets: these, however, had ministered to a single 
people within a limited area, whereas the teachers of the 
New Testament had to deal with scattered churches, with 
whom the epistle was the natural mode of intercourse. 
The Missionary Journey and the Missionary Epistle 
together made the very life blood of early Christendom : 

1 Acts xviii. 9. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 105 

a circulating medium by which the thoughts of each 
fragment were conveyed to the whole, the influence of 
those who led was brought home to their remotest fol- 
lowers. Though written in free style, the pastoral 
epistles show a common structure. Over and above 
the formal greeting at the commencement, and personal 
messages at the close, an epistle has three distinct parts. 
There is a Recognition of the mutual relations between 
the writer and the people addressed; this may descend 
to particulars of personal movements, or rise to heights 
of Christian meditation and prayer. At the end there 
is Exhortation : this may spring directly out of the matter 
of the epistle, or it maybe as general as the disconnected 
sentences of a book of wisdom. Between the Recog- 
nition and the Exhortation comes the Doctrinal Dis- 
cussion. While the other portions of an epistle have a 
valuable bearing upon the personality and movements of 
the apostles, it is the doctrinal part that is important in 
the history of Christianity. For a pastoral epistle is 
called forth by an emergency : in its doctrinal discus- 
sion the apostle is bringing to bear upon this emergency 
the expanding thought of the new religion. Thus the 
succession of pastoral epistles traces the history of 
Christianity in a series of urgent questions. 

In The Epistles to the Thessalonians we have a glimpse 
of a passing phase of early Christianity, when all other 
questions sank into the background in comparison with 
the expectation of an immediate coming of Christ. Like 
the Israelites prepared for their exodus, the Christian 
churches were standing with their loins girded : it is this 
expectancy of a sudden manifestation that explains the 
community of goods among the early converts, as if 



106 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

property had now no use save to minister to daily neces- 
sities of the brethren until the end should come. The 
first shock to this attitude of expectancy came, for the 
Thessalonian churches, in the death of some of their 
number. Did this mean that their loved brethren had 
fallen out of the Christian hope, and were but as they 
who die in the world? Or was there mistake as to the 
season of the Lord's coming? St. Paul in his first epistle 
appeals to the resurrection of Jesus, and bids his brethren 
believe that their dead shall be at no disadvantage — 
nay, that the dead in Christ will be the first to arise. As 
to times and seasons, they know that the day of the Lord 
must come as a thief in the night, yet without terror to 
those who are children of the light. But before the 
second epistle was written it would seem as if this ripple 
of disturbance in Thessalonica had become a theo- 
logical revolution: factious teachers — apparently using 
Paul's name — had introduced the idea that there was to 
be no "coming of the Lord" except such as had already 
come. This Paul combats, with arguments that are dif- 
ficult for us to follow, inasmuch as they are references 
to his verbal teaching while in Thessalonica. The 
main thought is that the signs precedent of Christ's 
coming were not yet appearing, — the "falling away" 
and "revelation of the man of sin." Meanwhile, ap- 
peal is made for order in the Church, as against the 
work of idle busybodies; and, to prevent repetition of 
the abuse of his name, Paul adds an autograph signature, 
which will be a token in future epistles. 

The Epistle to the Galatians in its hurried opening 
reflects the spirit in which it is written; what I have 
called the recognition here merges in the doctrinal 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 107 

discussion — a cry that the Galatians are marvellously 
falling away from the doctrine which Paul had taught 
them to quite another gospel. The trouble here is that 
which, more than anything else, it was the lifework of 
Paul to combat : the idea that the gospel of Christ must 
be understood to include the law of Moses, all of which 
was incumbent on the Gentile converts. In this epistle 
Paul first, in the most solemn manner conceivable, 
asserts that his gospel was given him direct from the 
risen Master himself; he goes through his personal his- 
tory to show that, not only had he not been influenced 
from other sources, but more, the reputed "pillars of 
the Church" had recognised him as intrusted with the 
gospel of the uncircumcision, just as Peter with the 
gospel of the circumcision. He then makes passionate 
appeals to the Gentiles from their own experience, their 
conversion by faith, not by law; from their personal 
devotion to himself; nay, from their- bond with Christ, 
seeing that receiving circumcision, he declares, is sever- 
ance from Christ. All through these appeals the writer 
is keeping up a running fight with supposed defenders 
of Judaising Christianity. Paul is urging the Galatians 
to go right past the Law to the original faith of Abra- 
ham. The Law was no more than an interim institution, 
arising out of the existence of transgression, obtaining 
only to the time of the promised Messiah; Law was the 
prison from which faith is the release; Law was the 
attendant leading the child to the teacher, Christ. At 
the close is an appeal for caution in realising this truth : 
the Christian's calling is for freedom, but freedom not 
used as an occasion for the flesh. 

In The First Epistle to the Corinthians we have a 



108 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

pastoral epistle on the most extensive scale ; what with 
appeals formally made to the apostle, and information he 
had otherwise received about the church at Corinth, 
Paul has accumulated a large number of matters calling 
for discussion. We may divide the various questions 
into three classes. 1 First, it would appear that a spirit of 
worldliness had invaded the Corinthian church. This 
manifests itself partly in the factions under which, like 
schools of philosophy, the Corinthians were arraying 
themselves ; whereas all spiritual leaders were but 
stewards who serve the church in spiritual mysteries. 
Again, it is complained that disputes between members 
of the church are carried to jurisdictions outside ; that a 
case of gross immorality in a member is passed over 
with toleration. More difficult questions are raised as to 
relations between the church and the world without. 
There is the complex matter of marriage relationships. 
This Paul treats in the broad spirit of distinction between 
law and expediency — expediency in the highest sense : 
the question is not what a man may lawfully do, but 
what it is good for him to yield for the interests of the 
church. In the same spirit is treated that curious per- 
plexity of early Christian life, the fact that the very food 
purchased might have been consecrated in idol worship ; 
Paul points out that, in the field of pure knowledge, the 
nullity of idols makes this consecration null and void, yet 
Christian expediency may require that the weak should 
not be shocked, nor should association with anything 
idolatrous be lightly regarded. St. Paul passes in the 
second place to points of order : to lesser points, and 

1 From this point of view the divisions of the epistle would be 
Chapters i. 6-x ; xi-xiv ; xv. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 109 

especially to the disorder caused by the very exuberance 
of spiritual gifts among the Corinthians, producing com- 
petition and clashing. It is here that he develops his 
great idea of the church as an organism : as different 
members of the body have different degrees of honour, 
yet all unite in the common health, so the common love 
is beyond any spiritual gifts ; yet of these, he goes on to 
say, the test is edification of the church and good order. 
In the third place, Paul has to deal with what is even 
more fundamental. The doctrine of the resurrection 
has itself been denied. Paul makes the resurrection of 
Jesus the foundation upon which the whole Christian 
faith rests ; this risen Jesus is a second Adam, firstfruits 
of resurrection for all, as the first Adam of the life that 
ends in death. From the analogy of seed corn rising in 
a changed form is developed the thought of a natural 
and a spiritual body ; for all — those who have died and 
those who live — corruption will put on incorruption : 
so will death be swallowed up in victory. 

By the time that The Second Epistle to the Corinthians 
was written the Judaising controversy had infected that 
church as well as others. This, however, we learn only 
by inference from expressions of the apostle ; the imme- 
diate topic of the epistle is still more general and funda- 
mental, for the great apostle of the Gentiles has to fight 
for his pastoral authority against rivals, who have depre- 
ciated him in order to exalt themselves and their doc- 
trines. The distaste which every high-minded man feels 
for self-assertion in any form gives colour to the whole 
letter. The very structure is affected, so that the doc- 
trinal discussion appears in two places. In the first part 
of the epistle, where St. Paul is reviewing his movements, 



110 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

he has said how his life is a blessed march in the trium- 
phal procession of Christ ; the dominant thought of the 
whole epistle causes him to break off suddenly with the 
question, Is this self-commendation? This leads to a 
lengthy digression, in which Paul distinguishes between 
glorying in himself and glorying in his mission. If the 
ministry of Moses caused his face to shine, what may 
be expected of that which is itself a ministry of light? 
Truly the treasure of light is in earthen vessels, and the 
preachers of life are being daily delivered to death ; but 
they look from the temporary dissolving tabernacle to the 
permanent building in the heavens. When, later on, the 
natural place is reached for doctrinal discussion, 1 Paul 
makes appeal that the Corinthians shall recognise his 
authority, and so save him from having to exercise it 
when he comes. With many apologies and manifest 
reluctance he recites his claims as a Hebrew of the He- 
brews, — claims based upon persecutions and upon won- 
derful revelations, claims finally based upon the ministry 
to the Corinthians themselves, who were served as a 
church inferior to no church, unless it be inferiority that 
they were served without charge. Thus the apostle 
hopes to use authority, when he comes, to build up 
and not to cast down. 

4 

We pass to the fourth and final section of the apostolic 
history. For the first section the centre of interest was 
Jerusalem ; for the second Antioch ; for the third the 
large cities ; the centre of interest is henceforward trans- 
ferred to Rome. While still at Ephesus Paul formed a 

1 Chapter x. i. 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 111 

plan to make a tour of his European churches, then to 
visit Jerusalem, and finally Rome. As a first instalment 
of this plan he writes The Epistle to the Romans. This 
must be distinguished from the pastoral epistles as being 
rather an epistolary treatise. 1 It has the epistolary super- 
scription, and a long list of greetings to persons Paul had 
met on his travels, and who have since settled in the 
metropolitan city. But it is not addressed to any 
church ; it is intended for general circulation among " all 
that are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints," 
preparatory to a visit in which the apostle hopes to do 
for those in Rome what he has done elsewhere. Thus 
he makes his letter a treatise in which he formally ex- 
pounds that aspect of Christianity of which he is the rec- 
ognised representative. Perhaps no work ever written 
has a better title to be called world-literature than this 
Epistle to the Romans : an exposition of the Christian 
gospel, specially designed to harmonise the thoughts of 
Hebrews and Greeks, and addressed to the Rome that 
had become the mistress of both. 

The theme may be thus formulated : The gospel the 
power of God ; to Jew and Greek alike ; as revealing 
a righteousness that is by faith. Its exposition keeps 
two lines of thought side by side. One displays the 
righteousness that is by faith. It advances by regular 
steps : a whole world (of Gentile and Jew alike) brought 
under the judgment of God ; a righteousness manifested 
— apart from law, yet witnessed to by law and prophets 

!To the same literary classification may be referred the brilliant 
Epistle to Hebrews, addressed through a particular church to Hebrews 
in general. Its purport is that the Law must give place to the Gospel 
as to a higher and fuller dispensation. 



112 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

— through faith in Jesus to all without distinction j on 
this foundation of justification by faith a life of salvation, 
by grace abounding more than sin has abounded ; as 
a climax, sonship of God, co-heirship with Christ, all 
things working together for the believer's glorification. 
But, for a second line of thought, side by side with this 
continually advancing argument St. Paul, in his own special 
manner, keeps up a running fight of answers to imaginary 
objections, all designed to conciliate those trained in 
ideas of the exclusiveness of the Law. This part of the 
treatise reaches its climax in the contention that God's 
ancient people have not been cast off; they are tem- 
porarily hardened that the Gentiles may be grafted in ; 
if then their fall is the riches of the world, what will their 
fulness be ! Like the pastoral epistles, the treatise con- 
cludes with solemn words of exhortation. 

As St. Paul proceeds with the plan he had formed, he 
finds himself more and more entangled in the strange 
ways of providence. Everywhere prophetic signs are 
given him of trouble and bondage awaiting him ; his 
meetings with the churches become a series of sorrow- 
ful farewells. In Jerusalem an act of legal ritual, spe- 
cially designed to conciliate, is misinterpreted, and in 
the popular tumult that follows Paul is arrested. He 
is hurried from adventure to adventure, from tribunal 
to tribunal ; he makes defence before the mob of Jeru- 
salem, before the council, before Roman governors and 
King Agrippa. Soon after his arrest a vision encourages 
him with the word that he is destined to bear witness at 
Rome. So after a long period of waiting, and many 
perils, the course of providence fulfils Paul's own pur- 
pose in a way he had never expected, and brings him 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 113 

a state prisoner to Rome. The narrative of The Acts 
closes with Paul continuing to bear his witness for Christ 
as a prisoner at large : the apostle of the Gentiles pro- 
claiming the gospel of the uncircumcision in the metrop- 
olis of the Gentile nations. 

Under this imprisonment in Rome Paul issued an 
epistolary manifesto to the Gentile churches : a circular 
letter, varied perhaps in a few details for particular 
churches, of which a single copy has come down to us 
— The Epistle to the Ephesians. Distinct from the pas- 
toral epistles, which are concerned with the govern- 
ment of the churches, the manifesto is rather an act of 
faith : not a discussion of details, but a reassertion of the 
Christian hope in all its fulness, coloured in its form by 
the particular circumstances which have called it forth. 
Paul writes on the present occasion as the prisoner of 
Christ Jesus in the cause of the Gentiles : his sufferings 
must be looked upon as the Gentiles,' glory ; his anxiety 
is to emphasise his particular stewardship in the mystery 
of redemption, how that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs in 
the promise through Christ. And similarly, when he is 
expatiating upon the blessedness of Christ's religion, he 
makes prominent this blessedness above all, that those 
who were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel have* 
become fellows in the house and temple of which Christ 
is the chief corner stone, Christ Jesus having broken 
down the middle wait of partition, and abolished the legal 
ordinances which were the principle of antagonism. 
Appeal is made to walk worthy of such a calling, keeping 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

In this connection may be read The Epistle to the 
Colossians. It differs from the circular letter of which 



114 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

Ephesians is the type, owing to the special circumstances 
of the body of Christians to whom it is addressed. The 
gospel of Christ, as Paul understood it, had been under- 
mined for the Colossians by a rival system of faith. On 
its speculative side this rival system is reflected in a word 
which in the epistle seems to be used as a technical 
term — the word 'fulness.' Meditation on the awful 
distance between God and man had led thinkers to ' fill 
in ' this interval with the idea of a chain of angelic ema- 
nations. Paul insists that in Christ all the ' fulness ' of 
the Father dwells : he is the image of God, firstborn of 
all creation, and agency through whom all principalities 
and dominions have been created. The practical side 
of the heresy was insistence upon ordinances and ascetic 
vows: from these Paul recalls the Colossians to Christ as 
all in all. 

If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, 
as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to 
ordinances — Handle not, nor taste, nor touch (all which 
things are to perish with the using) — after the precepts and 
doctrines of men? . . . Set your mind on the things that are 
above, not on the things that are upon the earth. For ye died, 
and your life is hid with Christ in God. 

Five more letters stand in the name of Paul : epistles 
to Philemon and the Philippians, two epistles to Timothy, 
and one to Titus. The early church was not a system 
of social revolution, but an impermm in imperio : in the 
world of its age without being of it. Hence The Epistle 
to Philemon shows us Paul using his influence — with 
infinite grace and tact — to restore a runaway slave to 
his master, while he bids this Christian master receive 
the slave as a brother. Philippians gives the appeal of 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 115 

the apostle to a body of Christians specially devoted to 
him. In the other three letters we have a pioneer in 
ecclesiastical organisation advising his younger associates. 
Speaking from the literary side it is interesting to note 
how in some of these epistles the literary quotations, 
instead of being taken from the Old Testament, seem to 
reflect the rise of a distinctively Christian hymnology. 

He who was manifested in the flesh, 
Justified in the spirit, 

Seen of angels, 
Preached among the nations, 
Believed on in the world, 

Received up in glory. 1 
And again, — 

For if we died with him, 

We shall also live with him; 
If we endure, 

We shall also reign with him; 
If we shall deny him, 

He also will deny us; 
If we are faithless, 

He abideth faithful, 
For he cannot deny himself. 2 

These five epistles are full of interest in reflecting the 
routine of early Church history and work. They do not 
however lead us to any landmark in the expansion of the 
New Testament Church. 

Three more letters, connected with the names of St. 
Peter and St. Jude, may be classed with what J have 
called the epistolary manifesto. They do not present an 
apostle in his intercourse with a particular church, nor 
do they discuss details of ecclesiastical organisation. 

1 / Timothy iii. 16. 2 II Timothy ii. n. 



116 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

They are passionate reassertions of the fundamental 
Christian faith, in the face of emergencies, but emergen- 
cies which are general and wide-reaching in their char- 
acter. Persecution belongs to all the history of the early 
church ; but the exigency which has called forth The 
First Epistle of St. Peter is an overpowering outburst of 
persecution, a " fiery trial " which has shaken the churches 
to their foundations. Against this background St. Peter 
recites the living hope restored through the resurrection 
of Jesus to the faithful, while they are being guarded to 
their final salvation ; he exhorts to the attitude of pilgrims 
and strangers in the persecuting world, to sobriety, holi- 
ness, love, patience ; suffering must not be thought a 
strange thing for those who are called to be partakers of 
the sufferings of Christ. The other two epistles repre- 
sent a phase of Church history in which the new religion 
has to struggle, not with speculative heresies, but with a 
deep-seated corruption, an antinomianism that is turning 
the grace of God into lasciviousness. The corrupters are 
false prophets — 

— creatures without reason, born mere animals, to be taken 
and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant 
. . . men that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots 
and blemishes, revelling in their love-feasts while they feast 
with you; having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease 
from sin; enticing unstedfast souls . . . uttering great swelling 
words of vanity they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lascivi- 
ousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in 
erro-; promising them liberty, while they themselves are bond- 
servants of corruption. 

Against corruption of this type the epistles contend for 
" the faith which was once for all delivered unto the 
saints." There is further one note in common through 



HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 117 

all three letters : the sense of immediateness with which 
the eoming of Christ is expected. St. Peter insists that 
the end of all things is at hand ; the fiery trial is inter- 
preted to mean that judgment is beginning at the house 
of God. The epistles that attack antinomianism recog- 
nise the corrupting prophets as the mockers foretold for 
"the last days," who say, "Where is the promise of his 
coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as they were from the beginning of 
the creation." But, it is insisted, the day of the Lord will 
come as a thief; the faithful are exhorted to build them- 
selves up on their most holy faith, looking for the mercy 
of Christ unto eternal life. 

We have thus briefly reviewed The History of the New 
Testament Church as Presented by Itself. So long as 
the Master remained upon earth, whether moving about 
his own Galilee, or steadfastly journeying to Jerusalem, 
or contending with the rulers of society in the sacred 
capital, the circle around his bodily presence represented 
the visible church. To this circle his last words prom- 
ised his presence, while it imposed the duty of proclaiming 
the glad tidings to all nations. From the miraculous 
signal of Pentecost the work was begun. At first around 
the apostles was gathered a simple fellowship for prayer 
and mutual comfort. Soon fresh miraculous signals 
opened up undreamed-of extension : the ' new way ' 
among the Jews must enlarge itself to admit Gentiles ; 
Europe clamoured for help from Asia. We see the 
missionary journey instituted to meet the growing expan- 
sion, building up a church out of churches ; the mission- 
ary epistle appears as a medium in which may be traced 
the expanding thought. For a time we have a band of 



118 BIBLICAL HISTORY AND STORY 

converts careless as to things earthly, concerned only 
about the speedy coming of Christ. They are recalled 
to earth by the struggle between the two elements within 
their fellowship ; from a tender toleration of Gentile 
brethren, who shrink from the full rigour of Mosaic law, 
we see gradually developed the conception of a righteous- 
ness by faith to which the dispensation of law was but a 
preparatory stage. Persecution from without, struggle 
and rivalry within, are seen as forces under the stress of 
which arc gradually worked out principles of Christian 
truth and order. Three epistles (whatever their chrono- 
logical dates may be) show us once more a church 
excited with the sense that the end of all things is at 
hand, and asserting the original faith against fiery perse- 
cution and paralysing corruption. At this point — with 
evangelisation carried to the Roman centre of the world, 
with the evangel itself developed into a theology and an 
ecclesiastical system — the history of Christianity passes 
out of canonical into secular literature. 



Part Second 

BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 



IV. Poetry and Prose in the Bible 

V. Old Testament Wisdom 

VI. New Testament Wisdom 

VII. Lyric Poetry of the Bible 

VIII. Prophecy as a Branch of Literature 

IX. Old Testament Prophecy 

X. New Testament Prophecy 



CHAPTER IV 

POETRY AND PROSE IN THE BIBLE 

We have reached a point at which it becomes neces- 
sary to form clear ideas as to certain literary terms, 
which are among the commonest words in our language, 
in reference to which, nevertheless, great confusion of 
thought prevails. I refer more particularly to the words 
'poetry' and 'prose.' It is not difficult to see how the 
confusion has come about. The fluctuations of language 
have obliged the word 'prose ' to do double duty: there 
is the prose which contrasts with poetry, and there- is 
the prose which contrasts with verse. It is thus not 
unnatural that to many minds poetry and verse should 
suggest much the same thing. In reality, however, the 
terms 'poetry ' and ' prose ' convey the most fundamental 
of all distinctions in literary form; the terms 'prose ' and 
' verse ' relate only to a difference of style that lies on the 
surface of literature. 

For the meaning of the word 'poetry' etymology 
comes to our aid. 'Poet ' is the Greek for 'maker ' ; and 
in Old English 'makers ' was the regular name for poets. 
From the Latin come two more similar terms: 'crea- 
tive' literature and 'fiction.' All four words imply the 
same idea: the poet, the maker, the author of creative 
literature or fiction, is one who makes, who creates 
something, who adds to the sum of existences. Shake- 
speare and Sophocles are poets in virtue of their having 

121 



122 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

created a Hamlet, an CEdipus. It does not follow that 
in actual history a similar Hamlet and CEdipus may not 
have existed. But the imaginative faculties to which 
poetry appeals have a wider range than that limited by 
past history; whether therefore it conceives entirely new 
persons and incidents, or whether it works up existing 
persons and incidents in a way that makes an inde- 
pendent appeal to our minds, in both cases poetry may 
be said to create. The poet is thus man's nearest 
approach to the Divine Maker and Creator of the uni- 
verse: and this is perhaps St. Paul's thought when he 
says to the Ephesians, "We are God's — workmanship " : 
so the English version has it ; but the original Greek 
says, " We are God's poem" The medium in which the 
poet's conception is expressed is of secondary impor- 
tance. Large parts of Shakespeare's plays — as a glance 
at the text will show — are in prose; yet obviously 
Shakespeare is as much a poet in his prose scenes as in 
the scenes which are written in verse. If it be true that 
we commonly describe by the term 'fiction ' the creative 
literature which is expressed in prose, this is merely a 
matter of usage, and involves no difference of meaning. 
In contradistinction to such creative poetry 'prose 
literature ' is limited by matter of fact and actual exist- 
ence. The historian, the philosopher, the orator, 
depart from their proper function if they allow imagi- 
nary matter to mingle in their discussion with matter 
of fact; the singer, the author of drama and epic, are 
poets just in proportion as they rise above the limita- 
tions of fact. To truth poetry and prose alike own 
allegiance; prose reaches truth by discussion, poetry 
by illustration. The philosopher argues what goodness 



POETRY AND PROSE IN THE BIBLE 123 

is; the dramatist creates a good man: both are helping 
us to be good. 

The application of this distinction to biblical litera- 
ture is of great importance. It is common to speak of 
Isaiah as a great poet; but many plersons — commen- 
tators as well as readers — seem to understand this to 
mean merely that Isaiah has given us sermons in verse, 
adorned no doubt with abundance of poetic imagery and 
diction. But poetic imagery and diction may be used 
in oratory, and the distinction between verse and ora- 
torical flow of sentences is a comparatively small matter. 
As a fact, The Book of Isaiah, and other portions of 
Scripture, include poetry in the fullest sense of the term : 
imaginative scenes used as a vehicle to convey truth. He 
who framed the parable of the Prodigal Son was not 
limited in his details to what happened to have actually 
occurred. For the dramatic parable of Job, just as for 
Shakespeare's Hamlet, there was no doubt a basis of 
historic fact; but neither the play nor The Book of Job 
is in any way limited by that historic germ. Solomon'' s 
Song is just as much a piece of creative literature as 
Romeo and Juliet. In The Book of Joel prophetic truth 
is conveyed by means of imaginary scenes — pictures of 
a whole people with its varied classes of men united in 
panic-stricken lamentation, of a mysterious catastrophe 
advancing in rapid stages, of sudden relief, happy res- 
toration, progress to a final judgment for all nations 
— precisely in the same way as in Milton imaginary 
scenes of Heaven, Hell, and Eden are used in justifying 
the ways of God to men. Whether the visions of Zecha- 
riah came into the prophet's mind in just the same way 
as other visions came into the mind of the poet Dante is 



124 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

a question for theologians : but in both cases alike the 
visions stand as creative pictures from which truth is to 
be interpreted. The reader, then, who would under- 
stand the books of Isaiah and other prophets must be 
prepared to find, not only sermons in verse, but also the 
poetry of imagination and symbolic drama. 

Coming to the distinction between 'prose ' and 'verse,' 
we may note a difference between the verse system of 
Hebrew and other languages with which the reader may 
be familiar. In English, or French, or German, verse 
is made by the number of syllables in a line, or by 
rhyme. In Latin and Greek the verse depends upon 
what is called the 'quantity ' of particular syllables. The 
Old English verse was constituted by 'alliteration ' — 
the recurrence in a line of similar sounds : — 

In a corner seson whan soft was the ^onne, 
I s/io-pe me in j/zroudes as I a s/iepe were. 

In Hebrew the foundation of verse is a recurrence, not 
of sounds, but of parallel clauses : — 

The Lord of hosts is with us : 
The God of Jacob is our refuge. 

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth : 
He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder; 
He burneth the chariots in the fire. 

Each of these is a 'verse, ' not in virtue of any number 
of syllables, but because the ear catches — what the sense 
confirms — that we have, in the first case two, in the 
second case three clauses, which run parallel with one 
another. 

How entirely dependent biblical verse is upon 



POETRY AND PROSE IN THE BIBLE 125 

parallelism of clauses may be tested by a simple experi- 
ment. Let the reader open a Bible (Revised Version), 
say, at the twenty-third chapter of The Book of Numbers : 
his eye will catch certain passages which stand out as 
verse amid a general course of prose. Let him com- 
mence at verse eight, and read on, omitting every alter- 
nate line : what he reads will make complete sense, and 
will be good prose. 

How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? For from 
the top of the rocks I see him : lo, it is a people that dwell 
alone. Who can count the dust of Jacob ? Let me die the 
death of the righteous ! 

Let him read a second time, putting in the lines omitted : 
the prose will have risen into verse. 

How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed ? 

And how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied ? 
For from the top of the rocks I see him, 

And from the hills I behold him : 
Lo, it is a people that dwell alone, 

And shall not be reckoned among the nations. 
Who can count the dust of Jacob, 

Or number the fourth part of Israel ? 
Let me die the death of the righteous, 

And let my last end be like his ! 

It is easy to see how, when each clause is supported by 
a second clause saying the same thing in different words, 
the sense of the whole sentence is kept suspended, so 
to speak, with a poise of thought, which differs from 
straightforward prose as the step of a dance differs from 
the step of a walk. 

A verse system that rests upon parallelism of clauses 
is capable of just the same elaborations that prevail in 



126 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

other systems of verse. Figures of parallelism are found 
that are counterparts to the 'stanzas ' of our hymn books. 
Sometimes a biblical hymn is made up of very simple 
stanzas. 

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 

Serve the Lord with gladness : 

Come before his presence with singing. 

Know ye that the Lord he is God : 

It is he that hath made us, and we are his ; 

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, 

And into his courts with praise : 

Give thanks unto him, and bless his name. 

For the Lord is good; 

His mercy endureth for ever; 

And his faithfulness unto all generations. 

Sometimes the stanzas are very elaborate, as in the 
opening of Ecclesiasticus. 

All wisdom cometh from the Lord, 
And is with him for ever. 

The sand of the seas, 
And the drops of rain; 
And the days of eternity, who shall number? 
The height of the heaven, 
And the breadth of the earth, and the deep, 
And wisdom, who shall search them out ? 
Wisdom hath been created before all things, 
And the understanding of prudence from everlasting. 

To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed? 
And who hath known her shrewd counsels ? 
There is one wise, 
Greatly to be feared, 
The Lord sitting upon his throne : 
He created her, 



POETRY AND PROSE IN THE BIBLE 127 

And saw and numbered her, 
And poured her out upon all his works. 
She is with all flesh according to his gift; 
And he gave her freely to them that love him. 

Biblical verse, like the verse of other great literatures, 
produces effects of beauty by rhythmic changes, or by 
recurrence of clauses in ' refrains, ' or by other musical 
devices. 

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way; 
They found no city of habitation : 
Hungry and thirsty, 
Their soul fainted in them. 

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, 
And he delivered them out of their distresses. 
He led them also by a straight way, 
That they might go to a city of habitation. 
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, 
And for his wonderful works to the children of 

MEN ! 

For he satisfieth the longing soul, 

And the hungry soul he filleth with good. 

Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, 
Being bound in affliction and iron; 
Because they rebelled against the words of God, 
And contemned the counsel of the Most High : 
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour : 
They fell down, and there was none to help. 

Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, 

And he saved them out of their distresses. 

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of 
death, 

And brake their bonds in sunder. 
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, 
And for his wonderful works to the children of men ! 
For he hath broken the gates of brass, 
And cut the bars of iron in sunder. 



128 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Later in the same (hundred and seventh) psalm we have 
illustrated a rhythmic effect almost peculiar to biblical 
verse : the 'pendulum figure, ' in which the thought sways 
between one and the other of two ideas — in this case 
between judgment and mercy — like the crescendo and 
diminuendo of music. 

He turneth rivers into a wilderness, 

And watersprings into a thirsty ground, 

A fruitful land into a salt desert, 

For the wickedness of them that dwell therein. 

He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water, 

And a dry land into watersprings, 

And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, 

That they may prepare a city of habitation; 

And sow fields, and plant vineyards, 

And get them fruits of increase. 

He blesseth them also so that they are multiplied greatly; 

And he suffereth not their cattle to decrease. 

V Again they are minished and bowed down, 
Through oppression, trouble, and sorrow, 
He poureth contempt upon princes, 
And causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way. 

/\ Yet setteth he the needy on high from affliction, 

/ \ And maketh him families like a flock. 

/ \ The upright shall see it, and be glad; 

/ \ And all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 

But I do not propose in this work to go farther into 
the niceties of biblical verse. For those who are inter- 
ested in literary technicalities I have discussed the 
subject elsewhere. 1 For the more general reader the 

1 In my Literary Study of the Bible [2d edition], Appendix III. 



POETRY AND PROSE IN THE BIBLE 129 

essential thing is that the verse structure should be 
represented to the eye by proper printing of the text. 
Where this is done, further explanation is superfluous; 
where structural arrangement is wanting, no amount of 
explanation is likely to be of much avail. 



CHAPTER V 

OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 

We now approach an interesting branch of sacred 
literature which is known by the name of ' wisdom.' It 
corresponds to the philosophy of other literatures. But 
there is a reason for the difference of name. Philoso- 
phy, in its simplest sense, is meditation on things in 
general, as distinct from history which describes things 
or events, and oratory which appeals to a particular 
audience. But in the philosophy of the Greeks, and the 
modern philosophies which succeeded to it, the medita- 
tion soon became a craving for explanation of things 
around us; the attempted explanation broadened and 
broadened, until philosophy came to mean the reduction 
of all things to a unity or single scheme. Sacred phi- 
losophy has a great deal in common with this; but 
throughout its whole course its thinkers made promi- 
nent, what elsewhere belonged only to an early stage 
of philosophy, the idea of meditation with a direct view 
to right conduct. Hence the name ' wisdom.' 

Every reader will feel that there is a difference of 
spirit between wisdom literature and other parts of the 
Bible. The prophets give out what they say as a direct 
Divine message: "Thus saith the Lord." The books 
of the law contain what "the Lord said unto Moses." 
Bible history is an account of God's dealing with the 

130 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 131 

nation of his choice. Sacred poetry is largely asso- 
ciated with actual worship of God. The wise men, on 
the other hand, only profess to be giving us the result 
of their own meditation on human life : they have been 
called, to distinguish them from other sacred writers, 
' humanists.' To say this, of course, is not to deny that 
wisdom literature is part of the 'Divine revelation' 
which the churches recognise as contained in the Bible; 
all that is implied is that in their literary form the say- 
ings of the wise contain no such claim to immediate 
Divine authority. The speakers are simply observers 
of life and the world : and the word ' Observation ' fur- 
nishes a keynote for the whole study of wisdom literature. 
This idea of 'observation ' gives us at once a basis 
upon which to arrange the different books of wisdom 
with a view to connected study. What I have in mind 
is not the chronological order in which the books were 
produced: that is a separate question, and belongs to 
the history of Hebrew literature. But the productions 
of the wise men may be arranged in a literary sequence, 
which is highly suggestive and important. It turns 
upon a distinction between two different kinds of wis- 
dom, according as the observation which wisdom im- 
plies is directed upon the parts, or the whole, of life 
and the external universe. The two may be called the 
lower and the higher wisdom. Or, they may be dis- 
tinguished as wisdom and Wisdom : the capital letter 
indicates how the biblical thinkers, when they contem- 
plate the universe as a whole, fall into the poetical form 
of personification, and indeed often express their sense 
of the harmony reigning through all things by the use of 
a personal pronoun : — 



132 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

To the light of day succeedeth night, but against "Wisdom 
evil doth not prevail, but she reacheth from one end of the 
world to the other with full strength, and ordereth all things 
graciously. 1 

First, we have wisdom literature in its stage of calm. 
Here observation, properly so called, is directed solely 
to the details of life, and we get disconnected sayings 
on human conduct and experience. When, at this stage, 
the wise turn their thoughts to life and the universe as 
a whole, observation gives place to adoration of the 
Wisdom that reigns through all things. Thus miscel- 
lanies of wisdom in the lower sense of the term, com- 
bined with hymns of adoration to supreme Wisdom, 
make up this first type of philosophy. It includes 
the biblical Proverbs and apocryphal Ecclesiasticus. 

The book entitled Ecclesiastes marks-ihe point where 
at last observation and analysis are turned upon life and 
the external universe as a whole. But this attempt of 
philosophy to read the meaning of all things breaks 
down in failure and despair: the term ' Wisdom ' disap- 
pears from this book, and in its place we have reiterated 
the word 'Vanity,' to express how existence is found 
'empty' of all meaning. This however does not pre- 
vent the book from being full of wisdom in the other 
sense of the word; it is a storehouse of miscellaneous 
reflections on details of life and conduct. 

Beyond this stage philosophy finds a later triumph 
when the universe to be observed is enlarged by the idea 
of a world beyond the grave. With this change of view 
the 'Wisdom ' reigning through all things reappears; 
from despair we return to the tone of adoration, and 

1 Wisdom viii. i. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 133 

the closest observation and analysis reveal^ in all things 
an ordered scheme of providence. This stage is repre- 
sented by the (apocryphal) work which has for title, 
The Wisdom of Solomon. 

So far all the works mentioned belong to the literature 
of contemplation, in which the thinker seems to stand 
apart from life, and consider it from outside. In The 
Book of Job we are confronted with an actual crisis 
of real experience, and various speakers placed in the 
midst of it seek to interpret the meaning of this crisis 
while it is still happening. Thus different attitudes of 
mind toward supreme questions of Wisdom are here 
represented in the different personages of a drama, and 
drawn together by a dramatic plot. The Book of Job is 
Wisdom Dramatised: this crowning work of Old Testa- 
ment philosophy serves also to present the other philo- 
sophical books in their mutual relations. 

I propose to review these works in the literary sequence 
in which we have thus seen them placed. It may be 
convenient however, at this point, to indicate to the 
reader, in the briefest manner, the various literary forms 
in which he will find biblical wisdom expressing itself. 

There is first the familiar Proverb : a couplet or triplet 
of parallel verse. 

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker : 
But he that hath mercy on the needy honoureth Him. 

As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, 
And as vinegar upon nitre, 
So is he that singeth songs to an heavy heart. 

The Proverb enlarges into the verse Epigram : the two 
lines of the couplet text are supported by other lines ex- 
plaining or enforcing. 



134 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, 

And guide thine heart in the way. 

Be not among winebibbers; 

Among gluttonous eaters of flesh : 
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; 
And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 1 

It is plain that the real text of this epigram is found in 
the last couplet, up to which the rest is leading. 

The most extended of the verse forms found in wis- 
dom literature is that which may be called the Sonnet. 
The proper meaning of this term is a form of poetry in 
which, so to speak, the thought is poured into a given 
mould of verse. In the most familiar modern literature 
only one such mould of verse is used for the sonnet ; 
namely, a series of fourteen lines, arranged in a particular 
order. But biblical sonnets fall into a great variety of 
moulds, the only thing common to them all being a 
highly elaborate parallelism of lines. For example, I 
may point out how the thought which was the text of the 
epigram quoted above reappears in another poem as 
part of a sonnet. 

THE FIELD OF THE SLOTHFUL2 

I went by the field of the slothful, 

And by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 
And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, 
The face thereof was covered with nettles, 
And the stone wall thereof was broken down. 

Then I beheld, 

And considered well : 

I saw, 

And received instruction. 
" Yet a little sleep, 

1 Proverbs xxiii. 19-21. 2 Proverbs xxiv. 30. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 135 

A little slumber, 

A little folding of the hands to sleep " — 
So shall thy poverty come as a robber, 
And thy want as an armed man. 

The eye catches from the printed page the symmetry 
between the different parts of such a sonnet; and the 
sense will be found to harmonise with the symmetry of 
the form. This is one of the shortest of wisdom sonnets : 
many of the poems so named are of great length and 
elaborateness. 

There remain two more forms of wisdom literature. 
What the Epigram is in verse, the Maxim is in prose : a 
proverb (or proverb abbreviated) makes a text for a 
brief comment in prose. 

A merchant shall hardly keep himself from tvr ong- doing ; 
And a huckster shall not be acquitted of sin. 

Many have sinned for a thing indifferent; and he that seek- 
eth to multiply gain will turn his eye away. A nail will stick 
fast between the joinings of stones; and sin will force itself in 
between buying and selling. 1 

Perhaps the most important of all the literary forms into 
which scriptural philosophy falls is the Essay. Ecclesi- 
asticus is a great storehouse of essay literature. The 
wisdom essays are not the lengthy discussions called by 
that name in the more modern literature, but are closely 
analogous to the essays of Bacon and his school. They 
consist of a collection of pithy thoughts : disconnected, 
except that they all bear upon a single topic, which 
becomes the title of the essay. With an illustration of 
the shorter essays in Ecclesiasticus I will conclude this 
review of the principal forms of wisdom literature. 

1 Ecclesiasticus xxvi. 29. 



136 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 



FRIENDSHIP i 

Sweet words will multiply a man's friends, and a fair-speak- 
ing tongue will multiply courtesies. Let those that are at 
peace with thee be many; but thy counsellors one of a thou- 
sand. If thou wouldest get thee a friend, get him by proving, 
and be not in haste to trust him. For there is a friend that is 
so for his own occasion, and he will not continue in the day of 
thy affliction. And there is a friend that turneth to enmity, 
and he will discover strife to thy reproach. And there is a 
friend that is a companion at the table, and he will not continue 
in the day of thy affliction : and in thy prosperity he will be as 
thyself, and will be bold over thy servants; if thou shalt be 
brought low, he will be against thee, and will hide himself from 
thy face. Separate thyself from thine enemies; and beware 
of thy friends. A faithful friend is a strong defence; and he 
that hath found him hath found a treasure. There is nothing 
that can be taken in exchange for a faithful friend; and his 
excellency is beyond price. A faithful friend is a medicine of 
life; and they that fear the Lord shall find him. He that 
feareth the Lord directeth his friendship aright; for as he is, 
so is his neighbour also. 



Sacred Wisdom in its Stage of Philosophic Calm. Books 
of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus 

The portion of wisdom literature first to be considered 
is The Book of Proverbs in the Bible, together with 
Ecclesiasticus in the Apocrypha. Both are miscellanies : 
there is no continuous discussion, but a succession of 
disconnected meditations, in the brief forms of proverbs, 
epigrams, maxims, or the longer sonnets and essays. 
The Book of Proverbs, when properly divided, is seen 
to be five separate collections, put together by an un- 

1 Ecclesiasticus vi. 5. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 137 

known editor. 1 The first contains sonnets in celebration 
of wisdom ; the second has for title, " The Proverbs of 
Solomon" ; next comes what reads as an epistle of wisdom, 
sent by the hands of a messenger to friends who have 
asked contributions ; the fourth section is entitled " Prov- 
erbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah King of 
Judah copied out " ; the last contains sayings of Agur and 
of Lemuel's mother. The other work is a much larger 
collection, but it is the compilation of a single editor. 
The name in the original is, " The Wisdom of Jesus the 
Son of Sirach " ; the name Ecclesiasticus has been given 
to the book by theologians, to indicate that it. is a book 
1 for reading in churches,' as distinguished from the ' can- 
onical ' books, which alone are to be used as foundation 
for theological doctrine. 

The contents of both these works are pervaded by a 
spirit of philosophic calm. Nor is the reason of this 
difficult to discover. The wise men, as they are here 
represented, have not essayed the difficult task of read- 
ing an interpretation into existence as a whole. They 
show keen observation and analysis : but their observation 
is directed solely-upon the details of life and the varieties 
of human society. When they raise their thoughts to 
the sum of things, they feel this is no topic for analysis, 
but only meditate with reverent rapture upon the per- 
fection that reigns through the universe. 

To speak first of the lower wisdom that belongs to life 
in its details. The shorter sayings are often vivid pic- 
turings of particular types or aspects of social life : what 
Elizabethan writers would have called ' humours.' There 
is the practical joker : — 

1 For detailed references, see Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, in the Appendix. 



138 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

As a madman who casteth firebrands, arrows, and death : 
So is the man that deceiveth his neighbour, 
And saith, Am not I in sport ? 

The seductive influence of slander is caught : — 

The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, 

And they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. 

The mendicant is presented by one proverb : — 

All the brethren of the poor do hate him : 

How much more do his friends go far from him ! 
He pursueth them with words, but they are gone. 

Another catches the ' humour ' of shopping : — 

It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer : 

But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. 

We have an epigram of the miserly host : — 

Eat thou not the bread of hirn that hath an evil eye, 

Neither desire thou his dainties; 

For as one that reckoneth within himself, so is he : 

Eat and drink, saith he to thee; 

But his heart is not with thee. 
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, 
And lose thy sweet words. 

A peculiar form of sonnet 1 brings out well the ways of a 
pair of lovers, so full of meaning to themselves, so unin- 
telligible to all others : — 

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, 
Yea, four which I know not : 

The way of an Eagle in the air; 

The way of a Serpent upon a rock; 

The way of a Ship in the midst of the sea; 
And the way of a Man with a Maid. 

1 Several of these ' Number Sonnets ' are to be found in Proverbs xxx. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 139 

Of course the wise men heap scorn upon the sluggard : 
who buries his hand in the dish, too lazy to bring it to 
his mouth; who turns on his bed like a door on hinges ; 
who is nevertheless wiser in his own conceit than seven 
men that can render a reason. But, naturally, the chief 
enemy of wisdom is l the fool.' 

Weep for the dead, 

For light hath failed him; 
And weep for a fool, 

For understanding hath failed him : 

Weep more sweetly for the dead, 

Because he hath found rest; 

But the life of the fool 
Is worse than death. 

Seven days are the days of mourning for the dead : 

But for a fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life. 1 

Conduct on all its many sides is a subject for the wise. 
Many proverbs inveigh against the dishonesty of the false 
balance ; one finds an illustration for ill-gotten fortunes 
in the will-o'-the-wisp. 

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue 
Is a vapour driven to and fro ; 
They that seek them seek death. 

Essays deal more at length with such topics as pride and 
meekness, true and false shame, choice of company, 
vengeance, sins of the flesh ; especially, government of 
the tongue. 

Hast thou heard a word ? let it die with thee : be of good 
courage; it will not burst thee. A fool will travail in pain 
with a word, as a woman in labour with a child. As an arrow 
that sticketh in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in a fool's 
belly. 

1 Ecclesiasticus xxii. n. 



140 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The minutiae of conduct, which we call behaviour, are not 
beneath the notice of the wise men. 

Sittest thou at a great table? be not greedy upon it . . . 
Stretch not thine hand whithersoever it looketh, and thrust not 
thyself with it into the dish. . . . Speak, thou that art the elder, 
for it becometh thee, but with sound knowledge. And hinder 
not music : pour not out talk when there is a performance of 
music, and display not thy wisdom out of season. . . . Speak, 
young man, if there be need of thee; yet scarcely if thou be 
twice asked: sum up thy speech, many things in few words; 
be as one that knoweth and yet holdeth his tongue. 

Conduct as a topic of wisdom leads naturally to the sub- 
ject of relations between rich and poor, master and ser- 
vant, children and parents. Woman is variously treated. 
Many proverbs seek unpleasant comparisons for the 
contentious woman ; on the other hand no language 
seems to the wise men too strong for extolling the good 
wife ; and further, a wife is made almost a necessity for 
the life that would be wise. 

Where no hedge is, the possession will be laid waste : and 
he that hath no wife will mourn as he wandereth up and down. 
For who will trust a nimble robber, that skippeth from city to 
city ? even so who shall trust a man that hath no nest, and 
lodgeth wheresoever he findeth himself at nightfall? 

And, besides the activities of conduct, there is the pas- 
sive side of life and experience, from which wisdom can 
draw its reflections : how hope deferred maketh the 
heart sick ; how — 

The heart knoweth its own bitterness, 
. And a stranger intermeddleth not with its joy. 

We are approaching a step nearer to the Wisdom that 
contemplates the sum of things when we have sayings on 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 141 

the topic of the judgment between good and evil : not a 
distant event, but a daily controversy in which evil is 
bound to be overthrown. 

There shall no mischief happen to the righteous : 
But the wicked shall be filled with evil. 

A righteous man, though he fall seven times, riseth up 
again, while the wicked are overthrown by calamity. It 
will be asked, How could the enlightened observation of 
the wise men fail to see the many contradictions to this 
principle which daily life presents ? Such contradictions 
are, in Proverbs, dismissed as so many trials of faith. 

Fret not thyself because of evil-doers; 

Neither be thou envious at the wicked : 
For there will be no reward to the evil man; 

The lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 

The son of Sirach is no less firm in this faith ; but his 
essays state the doctrine in a way to meet objections, 
pointing out how retribution may be delayed until the 
very day of the sinner's death, or even descend upon his 
posterity instead of himself. 

In the day of good things there is a forgetfulness of evil 
things; and in the day of evil things a man will not remember 
things that are good. For it is an easy thing in the sight of 
the Lord to reward a man in the day of death according to his 
ways. The affliction of an hour causeth forgetfulness of de- 
light; and in the last end of a man is the revelation of his 
deeds. Call no man blessed before his death; and a man 
shall be known in his children. 

We may now turn to the smaller but not less important 
portions of these two works, in which the wise men are 
meditating upon Wisdom as a whole. Here the calm of 



142 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

the philosophic observer becomes quickened into holy 
joy and fervent admiration. 

Wisdom is the principal thing; 

Get wisdom : 
Yea, with all thou hast gotten 

Get understanding. 

The allurements of this Wisdom are celebrated in sonnets. 

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, 
And the man that getteth understanding. 

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, 
And the gain thereof than fine gold. 
She is more precious than rubies : 

And none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared 
unto her. 

Length of days is in her right hand; 

In her left hand are riches and honour. 

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 

And all her paths are peace. 

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; 

And happy is every one that retaineth her. 

Essays dwell on the difficulty of securing so rich a prize. 

For at the first she will walk with him in crooked ways, and 
wall bring fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her 
discipline, until she may trust his soul, and try him by her 
judgements : then will she return again the straight way unto 
him, and will gladden him, and reveal to him her secrets. 

But what is the Wisdom thus celebrated, and how 
much is implied in the conception of it:* In the first 
place, Wisdom is a thing of character ; not now features 
of conduct, but character as a whole. 

For wisdom shall enter into thine heart, 
And knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul; 
Discretion shall watch over thee; 
Understanding shall keep thee. ' 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 143 

Character expresses itself in action, and we have a 
"way of wisdom " that contrasts with its opposite. 

The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn 
That shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 

The way of the wicked is as darkness : 
They know not at what they stumble. 

Not only how the good man walks in the world, but also 
how the world deals with him — this comes into the con- 
ception of Wisdom : it is the principle of providential 
retribution, and that not on the good alone, but also on 
the evil. It is Wisdom who is made to proclaim : — 

Because I have called, and ye refused; 

I have stretched out my hand, 

And no man regarded; 

But ye have set at nought all my counsel, 

And would none of my reproof : 
I also will laugh in the day of your calamity; 
I will mock when your fear cometh ; 
When your fear cometh as a storm, 
And your calamity cometh on as a whirlwind; 
When distress and anguish come upon you, 

Then shall they call upon me, 
But I will not answer; 

They shall seek me diligently, 
But they shall not find me. 

But the conception of supreme Wisdom goes farther 
still : it includes not only the providence that rules over 
man, but also the providence of the external universe, 
which first brought it into being, and still maintains it 
in order and harmony. 

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth : 
By understanding he established the heavens. 
By his knowledge the depths were broken up, 
And the skies drop down the dew. 



144 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

A universal Wisdom which thus includes the world within 
and the world without, which establishes a harmony ex- 
tending from the conduct of men to the creative power 
of God : no wonder that this should be a theme of song 
and adoration, such as scarcely differs from the adoration 
paid to God himself, the author of Wisdom. 

To fear the Lord 

Is the beginning of wisdom; 

And it was created together with the faithful in the womb. 

With men she laid an eternal foundation; 

And with their seed shall she be had in trust. 

To fear the Lord 

Is the fulness of wisdom; 

And she satiateth men with her fruits. 

She shall fill all her house with desirable things, 

And her garners with her produce. 

The fear of the Lord 
Is the crown of wisdom, 
Making peace and perfect health to flourish. 
He both saw and numbered her ; 

He rained down skill and knowledge of understanding, 
And exalted the honour of them that hold her fast. 

To fear the Lord 

Is the root of wisdom ; 

And her branches are length of days. 

In so perfect a universe what place is there for evil? 
We have already seen, in the sayings of the early wise 
men, the destined end of evil : but how about its first 
beginning? Very delicate and suggestive is the hand- 
ling of this topic in the wisdom sonnets. As all good is 
personified under the name of Wisdom, so there is a 
shadowy personification of her opposite, that appears 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 145 

from time to time as the ' Strange Woman.' It must be 
remembered that in Bible English the word ha*d not lost 
the metaphorical force of its etymology, and suggested 
foreign (the French etrange) \ the ' strange women ' that 
Solomon loved were foreigners. Thus evil is made to 
appear as something external, an intruder into God's 
good world. In treatment, the ' Strange Woman ' is 
identified with the grossest form of temptation, which in 
ancient Israel would be carried on mainly by those who 
were not Israelites. The most elaborate of the wisdom 
poems 1 is an idealised picture of such everyday tempta- 
tion : we have a young man void of understanding, a 
woman wily of heart, a flattering speech, a going as of the 
ox to the slaughter, glimpses of a house that is a way 
to the abyss, with its slain a mighty host. Suddenly, by 
the boldest of transitions, Wisdom is presented in con- 
trast as seduction to good. 

Doth not Wisdom cry, 
And Understanding put forth her voice? 
In the top of high places by the way, 
Where the paths meet, 

She standeth; 
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, 
At the coming in at the doors, 

She crieth aloud. 

All the attractions of Wisdom are displayed : subtilty, 
knowledge, discretion, hatred of evil, sagacity in govern- 
ment and justice ; not these alone, but riches and honour 
and highest success. Wisdom rises beyond these to 
identity with the power that stamped perfection on the 
world God created. — 

1 Proverbs vii-viii. 



146 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

When he established the heavens I was there : 

When Jie set a circle upon the face of the deep : 

When he made firm the skies above : 

When the fountains of the deep became strong : 

When he gave to the sea its bound, 

That the waters should not transgress his commandment : 

When he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

Then I was by him. 

With the final words of entreaty and warning we have 
summed up the whole of wisdom literature in this its 
stage of simplicity and calm. 

Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, 

Waiting at the posts of my doors, 
For whoso findeth me findeth life, 

And shall obtain favour of the Lord; 
But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul; 

All thev that hate me love death. 



Sacred Wisdom in its Stage of Storm and Stress 

The Book of Ecclesiastes 

As we read the several books of wisdom in the order 
in which I have placed them, we notice not only varia- 
tions in their spirit, but also a succession of changes in 
external literary form. The Book of Proverbs is made up 
wholly of disconnected proverbs, epigrams, and sonnets. 
To these, in Ecclesiasticus, are added maxims and essays. 
The addition is important : the brief form of the prov- 
erb or epigram admits only of single observations of life, 
whereas in the longer essay many different observations 
are grouped together under a given topic. In Ecclesi- 
astes this grouping of thoughts is carried further : here the 
essays, while as before they are separated by strings of 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 147 

disconnected brevities, yet are found to unite in a com- 
mon drift of thought, and are further bound into a unity 
by a prologue and epilogue. In The Wisdom of Solomon 
the strings of miscellaneous brevities disappear; the 
essays (or rather discourses) are connected together in 
a curious way that might be called dove-tailing — the last 
thought of one becomes the opening thought of the next. 
Thus we have at last arrived at a work continuous 
throughout. In The Book of Job the form changes alto- 
gether to that of drama and narrated story. The two 
last-named works differ from the rest in lacking the series 
of miscellaneous proverbs and epigrams. Yet these two 
books are full of wise and pithy sayings, which make the 
details of discourses or dramatic speeches. In other 
words, the lower wisdom, that observes the parts, has 
become absorbed into the higher Wisdom, that reflects 
upon the whole of life. 

This literary structure of Ecclesiastes — five essays, 
separated by miscellaneous sayings, and bound into a 
unity by prologue and epilogue 1 — has an important bear- 
ing upon the traditional idea that the book was written 
by the historical king Solomon. Historic criticism, the 
province of which is to investigate questions of author- 
ship, finds the internal evidence of the book pointing to 
a date centuries later than the time of Solomon. Yet 
the . popular mind clings to the traditional idea, from a 
mistaken notion that the book itself names Solomon as 
its author. When the work is read in its true literary 
structure it will be seen how far this is from being the 
case. The prologue and epilogue are the most natural 

1 For exact references, see Appendix. 



148 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

places in which to look for evidence of authorship : but 
these parts of Ecclesiastes lack all allusion to or suggestion 
of Solomon. The miscellaneous sayings are quite unlike 
what might be expected from a royal philosopher. Four 
of the five essays are without any light on the question of 
authorship. The allusion to Solomon is confined to the 
first essay, which opens with the words : — 

I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 

This first essay, when examined, is found to be the record 
of an imaginary experiment, which was to survey pleasure, 
wisdom, power, in order to see what they might yield to 
wisdom. The author of the book, whoever he may be, 
following a frequent custom of ancient philosophy, has 
put the record of such an experiment into the mouth of 
the one historical personage who had the fullest means 
of making it : when the subject of this supposed experi- 
ment is concluded, the personality of Solomon disap- 
pears. This matter of authorship is important only 
because so many students, coming to Ecclesiastes with 
the idea that it is from the pen of Solomon, have read 
into the work the personality of the supposed author, 
and seen only the morbid complainings of a life vitiated 
by pleasure. Despair there is in the book : but, when 
examined without prejudice, it will be found to be the 
product of a noble mind, which in the midst of philo- 
sophic despair retains faith in God, and finds life full of 
happiness. 

In the general survey of wisdom literature Ecclesiastes 
makes a stage all by itself. The analysis and question- 
ing, hitherto reserved for the details of life, are now 
turned upon the universe as a whole : philosophy in this 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 149 

stage proves unequal to the task of finding a meaning in 
existence, and breaks down in despair. Though here, as 
before, are collected wise sayings on the details of con- 
duct, yet ' Wisdom ' in the larger sense disappears : the 
very word is lacking, and 'Vanity' takes its place. The 
calm reflection or rapturous celebration that belonged 
to the earliest wisdom has for a time ceased ; philosophy 
has passed into a stage of storm and stress. 

We must examine the several sections of the book. 
The prologue is only an expansion of the text, All things 
are vanity. External nature seems to this observer only 
a monotony of movement in a circle ; human inquiry 
finds no satisfaction ; there is no advance from generation 
to generation, but the thing that is is the thing that has 
been. In place of the old path of wisdom, Ecclesiastes 
finds existence a mere treadmill. 

The first essay, as we have seen, imagines the one man 
in history who combined supreme wealth, wisdom, and 
power experimenting to see which type of life may be 
exalted as ' wisdom.' First, he plunges with all his 
resources into a life of pleasure. His experiment shall 
be bold : he will not be afraid of those pleasures men call 
follies, only he will take them, not as a fool does, but with 
his wisdom retained for the purpose of testing. The ex- 
periment in the life of pleasure is drawn out to the full : 
and the result, to the experimenter's wisdom, is that such 
life is vanity. Next, the life of wisdom is examined. 
The imaginary Solomon sees in an instant that wisdom 
surpasses folly as light surpasses darkness : yet the vanity 
of life reappears' in the fact that the wise and the fool 
come to the same end of death. Similarly, when ' labour ' 
or enterprise is surveyed, the successful labourer has to 



150 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

leave his vast schemes to his successor, who may be a 
fool : this also is vanity. 

But there is a fourth branch to this survey of life, which 
is very interesting. May it be that the satisfaction which 
is being sought as ' wisdom ' belongs to no one type of 
life ; that it is to be found, not in the grand accumula- 
tion of wealth, of wisdom, or enterprise, but in the 
momentary appreciation of life as it passes, whether the 
life of pleasure, or wisdom, or power? Here it may be 
well to caution the reader on one point of style. Ecclesi- 
astes is one of the most difficult books in all literature : 
and its difficulty is largely caused by the degree to which 
it carries what is called symbolic style of writing. This 
implies that particular ideas are represented arbitrarily, 
each by a particular formula of words. Thus when our 
author wishes to speak of actual life, as distinguished 
from life in the abstract, he will express it as " what is 
done under the sun " ; when he conveys a sudden change 
of thought, he does it in the phrase, " I said in mine 
heart." Similarly, he uses the formula " eat and drink " 
to express appreciation of all kinds. Readers of the 
book who have the personality of Solomon in their 
minds, noticing the frequent recurrence of " eat and 
drink " in this work, are apt to run away with the idea 
that sensuous enjoyment is largely its topic. But the 
phrase " eat and drink " will be found applied to riches, 
even to honour : it is no more than a formula for ex- 
pressing appreciation of anything whatever. In this 
spirit must be read the words of this first essay : — 

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat 
and drink, and make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This 
also I saw, that it is from the hand of God. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 151 

The fourth experiment of the imaginary Solomon has 
discovered that the very best thing in the whole world 
is the power to appreciate what life brings from moment 
to moment, whether of pleasure, or wisdom, or enterprise. 
Yet this fourth experiment, like the rest, is a failure : 
for the reflection soon follows, that such power to find 
happiness in life as it passes is a thing a man cannot 
secure by any effort of his own, but it is God's gift to the 
individual soul. 

The first essay then has reached the negative result 
that no type of life bears examination as 'wisdom.' It 
has also contributed a positive thought, that what happi- 
ness there is in life is the direct gift of God. 

The second essay brings up another theory of life, and 
considers only to reject it. The theory might perhaps 
be described by the modern term ' eclecticism.' Granted 
that no one side of life is to be identified with wisdom, 
may it not be that in the conception to be formed of 
this wisdom all the elements of life without exception 
have some place? The writer's formula for expressing 
this is that there is a time and season for everything 
under the sun. But this philosophy of times and seasons 
is overthrown by four arguments. First, it is true that 
all the elements of life have an attractiveness of their 
own. But the God who so created them also implanted 
in man's breast a sense of the universal, a craving to 
know " the work that God hath done from the beginning 
even to the end " : and this yearning after the meaning 
of the whole blots out all satisfaction from the parts. 
Again : it is true that all things are beautiful in their 
season. But the power to catch this beauty is the gift 
of God to the individual ; no effort on his part can force 



152 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

it from One who acts by eternal laws. Once more : the 
' seasons ' of things are found to be reversed — wickedness 
is seen in the place of judgment. For a moment there 
comes the thought of an hereafter when these injustices 
may be set right ; the next moment the thought is aban- 
doned, in the absence of any evidence that man's death 
is other than the death of brutes. Finally, there are 
things — oppression, rivalry, bereavement — which no 
season can render beautiful. The second essay, like 
the first, fails to find wisdom. But it has repeated the 
positive thought before discovered, that satisfaction and 
happiness in life is God's gift to the individual soul. 

A third essay illustrates the vanity of desire. But one 
of its illustrations is made by companion pictures : of a 
man who has all things to enjoy, with the power to enjoy 
them ; of another man who lacks nothing that his soul 
desires, but God has withheld from him the power to 
enjoy what he possesses. A fourth essay, giving up wis- 
dom . as unattainable, inquires whether an approach 
toward wisdom may not be possible, and takes the form 
of notes by the way. But amid these negative notes 
there breaks out a sudden appeal to the man who has 
found happiness, who eats his bread with joy, and drinks 
wine with a merry heart, living joyfully with the wife 
he loves : he is bidden to continue in this joyful living, 
for " God has already accepted his works." With the 
continued failure to read any meaning into existence, 
there has thus grown stronger and stronger the posi- 
tive thought, that actual happiness in life is God's gift ; 
he who has it may recognise it as God's token of 
approval. 

When we reach the fifth and last essay, the positive 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 153 

thought of happiness is supreme ; and the vanity of all 
things is made a reason for emphasising the happiness of 
the happy. If a man live many years, he is to rejoice in 
them all, remembering the days of darkness and empti- 
ness that are to come. 

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart 
cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of 
thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : but know thou 
that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. — 

— This last clause of caution refers to the everlasting con- 
troversy of good and evil in daily life (which is the regu- 
lar meaning of ' judgment' in wisdom literature): the 
happiness of youth must always have regard to the dis- 
tinction of right and wrong. With this one limitation 
happiness is made a duty. — 

— Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil 
from thy flesh : for youth and the prime of life are vanity. 

Not happiness alone, however, but the remembrance of 
the Creator is to be emphasised in youth ; both for the 
same reason — of the coming days when failing powers 
diminish strength alike for enjoyment and for worship. 
And the essay merges in the well-known sonnet which 
pictures under symbolic phrases old age, decay, and 
death. 

There follows an epilogue which, reiterating that all 
things are vanity, finds this as the end of the matter : 
" Fear God, and keep his commandments ; for this is 
the whole duty of man." 

We started with a prologue which said, All is vanity ; 
we have reached an epilogue which says, All is vanity, 
fear God. From the one tone of mind we have travelled 



154 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

to the other by two distinct lines of thinking, kept con- 
tinually side by side. One is a negative train of thought, 
a succession of failures to find any wisdom in the sum of 
things : the meaning of existence is God's secret. There- 
fore fear God. The other is a positive conviction, grow- 
ing ever more emphatic : life is full of happiness, but 
the power to feel it is God's special gift to the individual 
soul. Therefore, again, fear God. Devout scepticism as 
a background for natural happiness — this seems to sum 
up the thought of Ecclesiastes. Scepticism is the fatigue 
of the analysing faculties ; throughout the book the effort 
to analyse the universe breaks down in depressing failure. 
But the author holds God himself as responsible for 
scepticism, inasmuch as it is he who has implanted in 
the human breast the craving to know the work that God 
has been doing from the beginning to the end. Yet this 
scepticism makes the thinker, not impious, but the more 
God-fearing. More strange still, this writer, of all the 
sacred authors, is the one who emphasises happiness — 
not the pleasure that is reckless of right and wrong, but 
responsible, natural happiness — as the one best thing in 
God's universe, and God's own stamp of approval on the 
man to whom he grants it. 

But what explains this thinker's failure to find any 
1 wisdom ' in the universe he is seeking to analyse ? The 
answer is clear : the world he examines is a world 
bounded by death. When the Preacher sees how the 
life of wisdom excels the life of folly, he is arrested by 
the sudden thought that both have the same ending. 
The life of laborious enterprise becomes vanity for the 
same reason — death and the leaving all to a successor 
who may be a fool. When the inequalities of life sug- 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 155 

gest a judgment hereafter, the thought is quenched in a 
further thought, that there is no known difference between 
the end of a man and the end of a brute. The circum- 
scribed life in this world is rejected as meaningless. But 
just here is the point of transition to another work of 
wisdom : while Ecclesiastes, as if it were a matter of 
course, assumes death as the end of all, The Wisdom 
of Solomon, equally as a truth needing no argument, 
assumes that God made not death, and that righteousness 
is immortal. In this widened field of view despair yields 
to triumph, and Wisdom reappears in place of Vanity. 

Sacred Wisdom in its Later Stage of Triumph 
The Wisdom of Solomon 

No two works can be more unlike in their style than 
Ecclesiastes and The Wisdom of Solomon. The one 
belongs to the Judaism of Palestine, and has the sugges- 
tive vagueness of Hebrew literature. The other comes 
from Alexandria, in which Hebrew and Greek thought 
had intermingled: the book is written in Greek, and 
exhibits all the rhetoric flow and subtle ingenuity of 
Greek style. Yet in their matter the two books are 
closely related : the full interest of The Wisdom of Solo- 
mon is felt only when it is read as an answer to Ecclesi- 
astes. It is not, of course, an answer in the sense of a 
refutation or attack; nor is the one work referred to by 
name in the other. But the imperfection of one view 
of life is made to appear when beside it is placed a con- 
ception that is deeper and broader. 

The first of the five discourses x in The Wisdom of 

1 For references, see in the Appendix. 



156 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Solomon is extremely brief; when read by itself it seems 
commonplace. Its interest, however, becomes immensely 
heightened if it be understood as glancing at a portion 
of Ecdesiastes. That work had pictured a strange 
experiment in pleasure : the wise man was to plunge 
boldly into vice, yet retain his wisdom in order to test 
the worth of vice. The discourse we are considering 
rebukes such a conception, as tempting God. 

Wisdom wall not enter into a soul that deviseth evil, nor 
dwell in a body that is held in pledge by sin. 

The subtle temptation to experiment in folly for wis- 
dom's sake is itself the highest unwisdom. 

The difference of spirit between the two works stands 
more fully revealed in connection with the second dis- 
course. Nothing is more prominent in Ecdesiastes than 
the writer's passionate insistence on death as the end 
of life, on the impossibility of seeing any difference 
between the death of a man and the death of a beast. 
With equal insistence The Wisdom of Solomon assumes 
the idea of immortality. 

God made not death : neither delighteth he when the living 
perish. For he created all things that they might have being; 
and the generative powers of the world are healthsome, and 
there is no poison of destruction in them ... for righteousness 
is immortal. 

As the early wisdom, in its phrase the 'Strange Woman,' 
treated evil as an intruder in God's good world, so here 
the life of the wicked is construed as inviting death into 
a world in which but for them it would have no place. 
In expansion of this thought we have a long monologue 
of the pleasure-lover. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 157 

Short and sorrowful is our life : and there is no healing when 
a man cometh to his end, and none was ever known that gave 
release from Hades. Because by mere chance were we born, 
and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been . . . 
and our life shall pass away as the traces of a cloud, and shall 
be scattered as is a mist when it is chased by the beams of the 
sun. . . . Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things 
that now are; and let us use the creation with all our soul as 
youth's possession. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and 
perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by, . . . 

So far we have exactly the thought of Ecclesiastes : 
the shortness of life is to emphasise happiness. The 
Preacher had insisted that such happiness was to be kept 
within the bounds of right: but, as the monologue of 
the pleasure-seekers continues, we see how easily con- 
ceptions of pleasure pass into conceptions of evil. 

Let us oppress the righteous poor . . . because he is of 
disservice to us, and is contrary to our works ... he is grievous 
unto us even to behold, because his life is unlike other men's, 
and his paths are of strange fashion. . . . The latter end of 
the righteous he calleth happy; and he vaunteth that God 
is his father. Let us see if his words be true, and let us try 
what shall befall in the ending of his life. . . . Let us con- 
demn him to a shameful death. 

As the author here breaks in upon this monologue of 
the wicked we get another point of contact with Eccle- 
siastes. The Preacher, in his general despair of reading 
God's ways with men, had exclaimed: 1 — 

The righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand 
of God : whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all 
is before them. 

Catching up the Preacher's phrase the present discourse 
gives it another meaning. — 

1 Ecclesiastes ix. I. 



158 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and 
no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they 
seemed to have died; and their departure was accounted to be 
their hurt, and their journeying away from us to be their ruin : 
but they are in peace. For even if in the sight of men they 
be punished, their hope is full of immortality; and having 
borne a little chastening, they shall receive great good. . . . 
And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, and 
as sparks among stubble they shall run to and fro. They shall 
judge nations, and have dominion over peoples; and the Lord 
shall reign over them for evermore. 

The picture is completed by another imaginary mono- 
logue of the same pleasure-seekers, rising from a dis- 
honoured grave to encounter the despised righteous man 
in his triumph, and to pronounce their own life vanity. 
A great feature of style in The Wisdom of Solomon is 
the use of the digression : in such by-paths of his argu- 
ment this writer often places his most important thoughts. 
Thus, in this second discourse, he turns aside from the 
pictures of a world beyond the grave, in order to glance 
at the substitutes for the idea of immortality which had 
satisfied earlier thought. These substitutes were two: 
the living over again in posterity, and the long life in 
this world, which were regarded as the reward of the 
righteous. As to the first, says the present writer : — 

The end of an unrighteous generation is alway grievous. 
Better than this is childlessness with virtue. For in the mem- 
ory of virtue is immortality, because it is recognised both before 
God and before men; when it is present men imitate it, and 
they long after it when it is departed, and throughout all time 
it marcheth crowned in triumph, victorious in the strife for the 
prizes that are undefiled. 

The old view that virtue brought long life had had to 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 159 

confront the actual contradictions of facts : the mystery 
is solved by the thought of immortality. 

A righteous man, though he die before his time, shall be at 
rest. For honourable old age is not that which standeth in 
length of time, nor is its measure given by number of years : 
but understanding is gray hairs unto men, and an unspotted 
life is ripe old age. Being found well pleasing unto God he 
was beloved of him, and while living among sinners he was 
translated. . . . Being made perfect in a little while he ful- 
filled long years : for his soul was pleasing unto the Lord : 
therefore hasted he out of the midst of wickedness. 

The suggestion of The Wisdom of Solomon as an 
answer to Ecclesiastes is most potent in the third dis- 
course. The one work had pictured the Solomon of 
history in an imaginary search for wisdom, from which 
he found only vanity. This third discourse is again a 
monologue of Solomon; no imagination is necessary, 
for an historic incident is presented, and Solomon finds 
wisdom, but finds it through prayer. The discourse 
simply works up, in impressive detail, the familiar inci- 
dent of Solomon's vision at Gibeon, and his prayer for 
wisdom. 

Here again it is the digressions that contain the most 
important matter of the whole discourse. Solomon has 
been saying that he had preferred wisdom to all things : 
he breaks off to bear testimony how all good things came 
to him with the wisdom he had chosen. 

. . . [God] gave me an unerring knowledge of the things 
that are : to know the constitution of the world, and the 
operation of the elements; the beginning and end and middle 
of times; the alternations of the solstices and the changes of 
seasons; the circuits of years and the positions of stars; the 
natures of living creatures and the ragings of wild beasts; the 



160 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

violences of winds and the thoughts of men; the diversities of 
plants and the virtues of roots. . . . For she that is the artifi- 
cer of all things taught me, even Wisdom. 

It is remarkable that the early wise men approached 
external nature only in the spirit of contemplation, 
reserving their analytic observation for human life. The 
passage just quoted is important as showing that, in this 
more advanced stage, all we call 'natural history' has 
become a part of Hebrew wisdom. 

Still more important is the passage which immediately 
follows. Biblical philosophy in its first stage had recog- 
nised as distinct, yet perfectly harmonious, the wisdom 
of conduct, and the Wisdom seen to prevail throughout 
the whole universe. Ecclesiastes divorced the two : the 
Preacher continued to add to the wise maxims of con- 
duct, but the survey of existence as a whole turned with 
him to the negative idea of vanity. In The Wisdom 
of Solomon the severed elements are to be reunited. 

For there is in [Wisdom] a spirit quick of understanding, 
holy, alone in kind, manifold, subtil, freely moving, clear in 
utterance, unpolluted, distinct, unharmed, loving what is good, 
keen, unhindered, beneficent, loving toward man, stedfast, sure, 
free from care, all-powerful, all-surveying, and penetrating 
through all spirits that are quick of understanding, pure, most 
subtil. For Wisdom is more mobile than any motion; yea, she 
pervadeth and penetrateth all things by reason of her pureness. 
For she is a breath of the power of God, and a clear effluence 
of the glory of the Almighty; therefore can nothing defiled 
find entrance into her. For she is an effulgence from ever- 
lasting light, and an unspotted mirror of the working of God, 
and an image of his goodness. 

There is more than rapturous encomium in this famous 
passage: the sense of harmony has been recovered 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 161 

between the world without and the world within, in a 
Wisdom that is " an unspotted mirror of the working of 
God, and an image of his goodness." 

From this point the matter of Ecclesiastes is left 
behind: what remains is the application of wisdom 
in its full sense to history. The fourth discourse runs 
through the succession of the fathers, showing how they 
were saved by wisdom. Adam rising out of his trans- 
gression into righteousness, Cain falling away from wis- 
dom into murder, Abraham withstanding the yearnings 
of his heart when the sacrifice of his child is called for: 
here we have the wisdom of the world within. Adam 
protected in his loneliness as sole inhabitant of the 
world, Noah saved when a world perishes, Abraham 
called out to be founder of a new nation : here we see 
the wisdom outside man, the protecting providence. 
The two unite in Moses: wisdom enters into his soul 
and makes him strong to stand before kings; he is the 
great agent of the wise providence that guides God's 
people through the wilderness. 

It is while the writer is dwelling on this last topic that 
we come upon the sentence — 

For by what things their foes were punished, by these they 
in their need were benefited. 

This becomes the text of the elaborate fifth discourse, 
in length one-half of the whole book. Wisdom in the 
sense of providence is emphasised when a single prin- 
ciple, such as this text contains, can be traced in its 
continual recurrence throughout the history of the wil- 
derness. Seven illustrations of the theme are elaborately 
worked out. The water turned into blood for the 



162 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Egyptians is contrasted with the water brought out of 
the rock for Israel. There are contrasts between the 
loathsome vermin, the rain of hail, which plagued 
Egypt, and the dainty quails, and rain of manna, with 
which Israel was blest. Noxious serpents attacked both, 
and death visited the sins of both : but by the brazen 
serpent Israel's curse was turned into a blessing, and at 
the intercession of Phinehas the plague of Israel was 
stayed. 

The plague of darkness is put in contrast with the 
pillar of fire which lightened Israel in the wilderness 
journeys. In connection with the treatment of this 
theme I may note a feature of The Wisdom of Solomon, 
too important to be passed over. In the elaboration of 
his details the author of this work loves to do, by method 
of analysis, what poetry does by creation. Biblical his- 
tory had pictured the Egyptian plague in the powerful 
phrase: " darkness which might be felt." The present 
writer sets to work to analyse and fill in to his description 
all that the victims may be supposed to have felt in that 
mysterious visitation. Haughty Egyptians, imagining 
they hold a holy nation in their power, suddenly find 
themselves prisoners of darkness, bound in the fetters 
of a long night, exiled from the eternal providence. 
Others, seeking the close recesses men choose for their 
secret sins, find indeed a mystic secrecy invading them : 
sundered each from the other by a dark curtain of for- 
getfulness they see, instead of the loved face, spectral 
forms, striking awe in the beholder: rushing sounds ring 
around them, and phantoms appear, cheerless with un- 
smiling faces. Wildly they struggle for light: no stars 
can pierce the gloom as they look up: as they kindle 



OLD TESTAMENT 'WISDOM 163 

fire it proves not strong enough to prevail over the per- 
vading gloom; and yet all about them are fearful glim- 
merings of fire self-kindled, until the horror of what 
they are forced to see is worse than the horror of failing 
to find the light they seek. Even where no spectral form 
confronts, yet the plagues of Egypt are all around : what 
with creeping vermin, and hissings of serpents, men 
perish with trembling, refusing to look upon the air, 
which can on no side be avoided. Or some have 
betaken themselves to peaceful slumber, holding night 
to be of all things the most powerless, coming out of 
powerless nothingness: yet the night for them can be 
haunted by dream monsters, until they feel the paralysis 
of the soul's surrendering in sleep. 

So then every man, whosoever it might be, sinking down in 
his place, was kept in ward shut up, in that prison which was 
barred not with iron : for whether he were a husbandman, or 
a shepherd, or a labourer whose toils were in the wilderness, 
he was overtaken, and endured that* inevitable necessity; for 
with one chain of darkness were they all bound. Whether 
there were a whistling wind, or a melodious noise of birds 
among the spreading branches, or a measured fall of water 
running violently, or a harsh crashing of rocks hurled down, or 
the swift course of animals bounding along unseen, or the voice 
of wild beasts harshly roaring, or an echo rebounding from the 
hollows of the mountains : all these things paralysed them 
with terror. For the whole world beside was enlightened with 
clear light, and was occupied with unhindered works; while 
over them alone was spread a heavy night, — an image of the 
darkness that should afterward receive them. But yet heavier 
than darkness were they unto themselves. 

Space will not allow me to dwell further upon the 
exquisite ingenuity with which this writer works out the 
illustrations of his theme; nor upon the digressions 



164 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

which touch topics as interesting as his argument; nor 
the peroration which sees the elements of nature inter- 
changing, like modulations in music, for the protection 
and glory of God's chosen people. Enough has been 
said to bring out the position of The Wisdom of Solomon 
in biblical philosophy. The first attempt to question 
the meaning of the universe as a whole had broken 
down, under Ecclesiastes, in stormy scepticism and cries 
of vanity. But the universe thus surveyed had been too 
narrow. Harmony and wisdom are triumphantly recov- 
ered by an observer who draws in to his field of view all 
nature, and finds it Law; all history, and reads it as 
Providence; who can see wisdom in all life, for life to 
him means Immortality. 

Wisdom Dramatised : The Book of Job 

The books of wisdom we have so far considered belong 
to the literature of contemplation: the thinker stands 
apart from life and views it from without, a process of 
thought appears only when it is completed. We now 
come to creative literature : circumstances of actual life 
are presented to us while they are yet happening, and 
thought is uttered in the process of thinking. This 
may be expressed by the title, Wisdom Dramatised. 
Yet The Book of Job is not completely described by the 
term 'drama ' : the greater part of it is a dramatic discus- 
sion, but the beginning and the end — what corresponds 
to the prologue and epilogue of ordinary plays — are in 
the form of narrated story. We may expect this differ- 
ence of form to reflect a difference of spirit; and, in 
actual fact, the solutions of life's mysteries offered by the 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 165 

prologue and epilogue are distinct from — of course, 
not antagonistic to — the solutions discussed in the 
drama. There is another consideration more on the 
surface. The prologue makes known to the reader of 
the book certain circumstances of the case which are not 
known to the personages who in the drama enter into the 
discussion : had they been known, that discussion would 
have been entirely different. It would seem then that 
the proper treatment for this book is that the reader 
should first study by itself the dramatic portion, putting 
himself in the position of those who are speaking, and 
therefore dismissing from his mind what he has learned 
from the prologue. When the drama has thus been inter- 
preted by its own light, then will it be proper to add to 
this interpretation what new suggestions are conveyed 
by the new matter of the prologue and epilogue. 

The drama of Job, like so many dramas of antiquity, 
is the expansion of a single situation. It is a situation 
exactly challenging the whole theory of life which had 
satisfied wisdom in its first stage. The earlier wise men, 
we have seen, looked upon God's universe as a universe 
of good; evil was an intruding element in the good 
world, and a daily judgment was visiting evil with 
suffering. 

There shall no mischief happen to the righteous : 
But the wicked shall be filled with evil. 

Now, in the past Job has appeared a perfect character, 
fearing God and eschewing evil : he has been crowned 
with all good fortune, until he is greatest of the children 
of the east. In a moment ruin has fallen upon him. 
On one single day messengers have brought news of his 



166 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

cattle carried away by Sabeans, his camels by Chaldean 
robbers; fire from heaven has destroyed his sheep, and 
the winds of the wilderness have crushed his family 
beneath their own roof. Before he has time to recover 
from this shock, loathsome disease invades his body; he 
creeps out of the village as one unclean, and takes his 
seat on the ash-mound with dogs and outcasts. His 
three Friends, wealthy and pious chieftains like himself, 
join him in his misery. The ash-mound becomes a 
stage, as spectators old and young gather around it to 
behold and listen, and learn wisdom from this unpar- 
alleled calamity. Job breaks the silence, and the drama 
is opened. 

Who are the speakers in this dramatic discussion? 
The three Friends are, for the purposes of the argument, 
one : superficial differences of individuality vary the 
exposition of their opinion, but the opinion of one is 
the opinion of all. Their position may be expressed by 
the term 'rigid orthodoxy'; as the etymology of that 
word suggests, they hold their view because they believe 
it a right view, not in the way of men impelled to an 
opinion by argument, or won by its attractiveness. They 
think they are doing God service by upholding ortho- 
doxy against attack; they entirely ignore all that is pre- 
sented against their position, while hesitation to accept 
it they deem a sign of moral declension. 

From among the spectators around the ash-mound 
there comes forth Elihu, of the noble family of Ram; 
he is a young man, and with difficulty overcomes his 
nervousness at interposing in a conversation of his 
elders. He represents orthodoxy modified. The dif- 
ference between Elihu' s position and that of the three 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 167 

Friends appears to us small : Elihu himself seems to 
think this modification all that is needed for convinc- 
ing Job. Once his opinion is put forth, Elihu holds 
to it in the spirit of the Friends. 

The character of Job is altogether different : he brings 
to the discussion an open mind. Apparently Job has, 
in the past, united in the orthodoxy of the others; but 
now facts have roused his thinking powers, and he has 
the spiritual energy to cast off, at the call of circum- 
stances, his most cherished beliefs, not in order to sub- 
stitute for them a new belief — which is comparatively 
easy — but to maintain the more difficult attitude of 
negation, and face the ways of providence as an un- 
solved enigma. 

There is yet another element in the dramatic dialogue, 
a Voice out of the Whirlwind : what is to be regarded 
as the significance of this it will be best to discuss later. 

We must now examine the ground taken by the differ- 
ent parties to the discussion, in reference to this mystery 
of suffering so powerfully suggested by the dramatic 
situation. The position of the Friends is the theory 
belonging to wisdom literature in its first stage : that all 
suffering is judgment upon sin. Nine speeches illus- 
trate this theme with every variety of rhetoric force; but 
the theory itself undergoes no change. Eliphaz in his 
opening 1 puts the doctrine as so much comfort for Job : 
the certainty that connects Job's suffering with his sin 
provides a sure escape from the suffering by the way of 
repentance. Bildad makes the doctrine as invariable as 
the processes of nature; Zophar thinks that to dispute it 
is to be wiser than God. When Job has shown resistance 

1 For references throughout, see Job in the Appendix. 



168 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

he is asked by Eliphaz, in a tone of indignation, whether 
he has an insight into the counsels of God hidden from 
all otherwise men. Bildad pours forth imagery, Zophar 
accumulates wise saws, to illustrate the certain over- 
throw of the ungodly in spite of a momentary triumph. 
Job carrying his resistance further still, the Friends fall 
back on other things than argument. Eliphaz makes 
suggestion of positive transgressions into which Job 
must have fallen, and tenderly counsels repentance. 
Bildad dilates upon the unspeakable greatness of the 
God of providence. Finally, in a noble climax, 1 
Zophar makes the whole edifice of wisdom rest upon 
the fear of the Creator and his judgments upon sin. 

Elihu's variation from this position is slight; yet it is 
a real modification. To him the connection between 
sin and suffering is as positive as it is to the others. But 
what Elihu elects to make prominent as to suffering is, 
not that it is judgment upon sin that is past, but rather 
how it serves as warning against sin in the future. The 
truth is the same; but it is presented in the form of mercy 
rather than of judgment. In this attractive setting Elihu 
hopes to see the common doctrine winning the adher- 
ence of Job. We are reminded of the way in which the 
son of Sirach restates the old principles of judgment in 
a form calculated to meet objections he has encountered. 2 

When we come to Job himself, the first point to be 
noted is that Job, at the outset, does not dispute the 
doctrine of the Friends. Eliphaz, he complains, has 

1 For the rearrangement of speeches here followed, see in the 
Appendix ; and (more at length) in the Job volume of the Modern 
Reader's Bible, page 125. 

2 Above, page 141. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 169 

harshly interpreted mere cries of pain as if they were a 
theory of God's providential ways. Would Job lie to his 
friends if he were conscious of such sins as would account 
for this utter ruin? Sinless he never claims to be: but 
why cannot God pardon his sin, and let him take com- 
fort before he departs into the land of darkness? To 
Bildad's argument Job even assents: "I know of a truth 
that it is so." But how is he to bring his case before 
the Divine Judge? In presence of that awful majesty 
the innocent is as helpless as the guilty. His comforters 
are but interested advocates for God : more and more 
Job appeals from the advocates to God himself. 
Zophar's instances Job scornfully accepts, but there are 
other facts to be explained : the tents of robbers prosper 
and the just man is made a laughing-stock, and yet the 
very beasts of the field can testify that the God who 
permits this is a God of power. 

But with the movement of the dramatic discussion Job 
advances from this first position. He moves along two 
distinct lines of thought. Wisdom literature reaches its 
point of highest dramatic interest when we examine 
these two trains of thought, and find that Job, on the 
one hand, is attracted in the direction of The Wisdom 
of Solomon, which assumes a future life to set right the 
anomalies of this world; on the other hand, he is driven 
in the direction of Eccksiastes, as the universe appears 
emptied of all meaning, a world in which triumph of 
evil is as patent as reward of good. 

To appreciate the first of these trains of thinking, 1 in 
which we are to see trembling into being the first con- 

1 From Job's last speech in the first cycle to his second speech in the 
second cycle (or Chapters xiv-xix) . 



170 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

ception of that future life which made the sure founda- 
tion of wisdom literature in its latest triumph, we must 
grasp clearly the attitude of early thought to the future 
that is beyond the grave. When we in modern times 
speak of life beyond death, we mean a new life begin- 
ning with death. Antiquity rather conceived of this 
present life continuing, from the moment of death, a 
process of decay and diminishing consciousness. The 
body at a single moment is pronounced dead, yet takes 
time to crumble into dust; so the soul in a moment is 
sundered from intercourse with other life, yet (it was 
supposed) in its isolation has a gloomy sense of waning 
existence, before it passes into utter nothingness. Such 
accepted views of death are Job's views in his ordinary 
moments. Man is the cloud consuming and vanishing 
away; the waters failing from the sea; the river decay- 
ing and drying up ; a tree may be revived by healing 
showers, but man lieth down and awakeneth not from 
his sleep till the heavens shall be no more. Most sug- 
gestive is the image of the landslip, that is the work of 
a moment, while there follows the slow wearing away by 
action of air and water : so is it with man. 

And surely the mountain falling cometh to naught, 

And the rock is removed out of its place, 

The waters wear the stones, 

The overflowings thereof wash away the dust of the earth : 

And thou destroyest the hope of man : 

Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth : 

Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away; 

His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; 

And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them; 

Only for himself [in the grave] his flesh hath pain, 

And for himself his soul mourneth. 1 

1 Chapter xiv. 18-22. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 171 

To modern thought the final goal of non-existence is a 
horror from which we shrink: the theme of Job's first 
utterance 1 is the dignity and rest of nothingness. 

For now should I have lien down and been quiet; 

I should have slept; then had I been at rest, 

With kings and counsellors of the earth, 

Which built solitary piles for themselves ; 

Or with princes that had gold, 

Who filled their houses with silver . . . 

There the wicked cease from troubling, 

And there the weary be at rest. 

There the prisoners are at ease together; 

They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. 

The small and great are there; 

And the servant is free from his master. 

This accepted view of man's end is, for Job, shaken by 
a passionate desire which is more to him than life — the 
vindication of his innocence against the construction the 
Friends fasten upon his misfortunes. * The few remaining 
moments of an old man's life seem too short to clear his 
character : is anything possible when life is over ? At 
first, for a single moment only, the idea flashes upon him 
of the grave as a hiding place until the storm of provi- 
dential mystery is overpast. 

Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol, i q 

That thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, 
That thou wouldest appoint me a set time and remember me ! 
— If a man die, shall he live again? — 
All the days of my warfare would I wait, till my release should 

come, 
Thou shouldest call, and I would answer thee; 
Thou wouldest have a desire to the work of thine hands. 

The thought of vindication beyond the grave is here 
1 Chapter iii. 13. 



172 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

no more than a passing fancy, dismissed by an ejacula- 
tion of impossibility even in the course of its utterance. 
But it soon recurs, and this time has acquired a tone of 

confidence. 

if ' / 9! 
O earth, cover not thou my blood, 

And let my cry have no resting place ! 

Even now, behold, my Witness is in heaven, 

And he that voucheth for me is on high. 

If the blood of the victim crying to heaven for ven- 
geance is to find a heavenly champion, it must be beyond 
this life. But the bitter accusations continue, and Job is 
deserted by all : despairing of all other aid, the thought 
of the rescue that is to come from above rouses Job to 
sure faith, and to the solemn asseveration that makes one 
of the climaxes of the whole poem. 

Oh, that my words were now written ! I ] % *^3 

Oh, that they were inscribed in a book ! 

That with an iron pen and lead 

They were graven, in the rock for ever ! 

For I know that my vindicator liveth, 

And that he shall stand up at the last upon the earth; 

And after my skin hath been thus destroyed, 

Yet without my flesh shall I see God ! 

Whom I shall see on my side, 

And mine eyes shall behold, and not another. 

By these few steps Job is driven, in the face of impossi- 
bility, to a faith in a providence of vindication apart from 
the flesh, beyond the grave. 

But in other parts of the poem * the sufferer's thoughts 
are seen moving in a very different direction. The doc- 
trine of the never failing judgment on the wicked has 
been pressed upon Job again and again : at last he is 

1 From Job's third speech in the second cycle (Chapter xxi). 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 173 

driven to give his whole mind to it, and he finds his soul 
agitated by rising doubts. 

Even when I remember I am troubled, "*f ' ( 

And horror taketh hold on my flesh. 

Wherefore do the wicked live, 

Become old, yea, wax mighty in power? 

Their seed is established with them in their sight, 

And their offspring before their eyes. 

Their houses are safe from fear, 

Neither is the rod of God upon them. 

Their bull gendereth, and faileth not, 

Their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. 

They send forth their little ones like a flock, 

And their children dance. 

In a word, they spend their whole life in prosperity, and, 
when they must die, die all in a moment. Yet these are 
the men who said unto God : Depart from us, we desire 
not the knowledge of thy ways. 

At this challenge to the very foundations of orthodoxy 
the Friends, in great agitation, forget the dignity of de- 
bate, and break in with interruptions. 1 Eliphaz impa- 
tiently insists that there is no security in such delusive 
prosperity : — 

Lo, their prosperity is not in their hand : 9/ ' / (. 

The counsel of the wicked is far from me. ^ 

But Job meets him with the question : — 

How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? U * !/ 
That their calamity cometh upon them? 
That God distributeth sorrows in his anger? 

1 For these interruptions, see the text (of Chapter xxi) as printed in 
The Modern Reader's Bible, pages 62-63, and the defence of this arrange- 
ment, page 127. 



174 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Bildad cries : — 

God layeth up his iniquity for his children. 

But Job retorts : — 

Let him recompense it unto himself, that he may know it. 

Let his own eyes see his destruction, 

And let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 

For what pleasure hath he in his house after him, 

When the number of his months is cut off in the midst? 

Zophar is deeply shocked. 

Shall any teach God knowledge, 
Seeing he judge th those that are high? 

Job simply confronts him with the facts. 

One dieth in his full strength, 

Being wholly at ease and quiet : 

His breasts are full of milk, 

And the marrow of his bones is moistened. 

And another dieth in bitterness of soul, 

And never tasteth of good. 

They lie down alike in the dust, 

And the worm covereth them. 

The Friends are still eager to interpose, but Job waves 
them off. He knows their thoughts, and the old sen- 
tences about the tent of the wicked vanishing. But will 
they not " ask them that go by the way," and learn 
experience of actual life : how that the wicked is spared 
in the day of calamity, and is borne to a peaceful grave ? 
The debate falls back into its regular order, and Eli- 
phaz passes from theory to open suggestions of sin on 
the part of Job. For answer, Job appeals to a Vindicator 
above : then, in quiet and orderly exposition, opens out 
this new view, that the times of the Almighty are not 
found in life by those who look for them. We get a 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 175 

complete evolution of social evil in this speech of Job. 1 
He commences with the encroachments of private prop- 
erty upon the common land ; the feebler people are 
driven to a life of hard labour, or the meagre subsistence 
of the wilderness. 

There are that remove the landmarks ... 1 V- 1 Z 

They turn the needy out of the way : 

The poor of the earth hide themselves together. 

Behold, as wild asses in the desert they go forth to their work, 

Seeking diligently for meat; 

The wilderness yieldeth them food for their children. 

Poverty necessitates borrowing, the oppression of usury 
is added to the burdens of the poor. 

They drive away the ass of the fatherless, * ^ \ 

They take the widow's ox for a pledge. 

Poverty is the more bitter from contrast with the luxury 
of which it is forced to be the minister. 

They cut his provender in the field, - , , / 

And they glean the vintage of the wicked . . . 
And being an-hungered they carry the sheaves. 
They make oil within the walls of these men; 
They tread their winepresses, and suffer thirst. 

In due course we get the massing together of the labour- 
ing population, and the violence of city life. - 

From out of the populous city men groan, t^ ) / 

And the soul of the wounded crieth out : 
Yet God imputeth it not for folly. 

Finally, we have the evolution of a criminal class, who 

have broken altogether with the light, so that the sweet 

day-dawn comes to them as a shadow of death : mur- 

1 Chapter xxiv. 



176 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

derers rising with first light from deeds of blood, thieves 
digging through houses in the darkness, the adulterer 
waiting for the twilight. Meanwhile, are the oppressors 
swept away by fierce floods ? or dried up as by the drought 
of summer ? Nay, — 

God by his power maketh the mighty to continue ; 

They rise up, when they believed not that they should live. 

So far is Job thus carried in his meditations upon social 
evil that he seems to reach the position of Ecclesiastes, 
the belief that the seasons of things are reversed, wicked- 
ness being found in the place of judgment : in other 
words, that the impunity of the wicked is as much a way 
of providence as judgment upon sin. 

But when the Friends, and Elihu, and Job himself 
have worked out their various trains of thinking, yet 
another speaker is added to this wonderful drama. In 
the latter part of Elihu's speech x his thoughts are seen to 
be engrossed with phenomena of the heavens around and 
above him ; the dramatic scene is changing, and soon 
the ash-mound is the centre of a tempest. At last the 
roar of the whirlwind is recognised as the Voice of God. 

It is just at this point of The Book of Job that the 
utmost care is necessary in order to prevent misinter- 
pretation of what is to follow. Errors of various kinds 
are to be avoided. For one : it may seem natural to 
some readers, especially to those familiar with the 
' Divine Intervention ' in Greek tragedies, to expect that, 
when God condescends to speak, what is said will be the 
solution of the mystery which has proved too hard for 

1 From xxxvi. 22 ; see Modern Reader's Bible, pages 102-106, and 
notes on pages 172-175. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 177 

the other speakers. But this is not found to be the case 
in the present poem : whatever else this conclusion of 
the drama may mean, it certainly leaves the suffering of 
the righteous a mystery still. And, indeed, this is involved 
in the very literary form of the work. The dramatic 
portion of Job is wisdom literature, which has no founda- 
tion except observation of life : what light comes upon 
life's mysteries from the supernatural world is reserved 
for the prologue. Thus, though Deity is the speaker in 
this scene, he speaks nothing but what man may learn by 
his own observation. 

Again, it is common to understand the significance of 
the Divine Intervention to be the anger of the Almighty 
at Job's daring to question his judgments. This view 
is impossible, since in the epilogue God justifies Job 
and is displeased with the Friends : yet it was the Friends 
who denied the right to question the judgments of Provi- 
dence, while Job had insisted on questioning. If this sug- 
gestion be modified so far as to make the point of the 
Divine speech the impossibility of fathoming the dispensa- 
tions of heaven, then we may admit that this is part of 
what is said. But such an explanation gives no inde- 
pendent significance to this final section of the drama, 
since all the speakers, and notably Job, have dilated on 
the inscrutability of God's dealings. 

To reach the true interpretation of the Divine Inter- 
vention we must not be content with the mere fact that 
Deity interposes, but must examine in full detail the 
elaborate speech that is put into the mouth of God. 
The result comes as a surprise. Except a single brief 
reference ] to God as the power that brings low the proud 
1 Chapter xl. 7-14. 



178 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

and treads down the wicked, all the rest of this lengthy 
outpouring is occupied with the Providence of the world 
external to man. Though Deity speaks, only one aspect 
of Deity stands revealed : the Lord answers out of the 
whirlwind, and the God of the Divine Intervention ap- 
pears as the Soul of External Nature. 

We must carry our examination a step farther yet. In 
this utterance of the God of Nature not even the whole 
of Nature finds a place. All that may be seen in exter- 
nal nature of destruction and cruel strife, all that w T aste in 
which nature seems so careless of individuals in order to 
be careful of type, all that a New Testament writer 
describes as the whole creation groaning and travailing 
together in pain : all this is entirely absent from the 
presentation of nature in Job. We find only a mystery 
of joy and power and sympathy, a world-wide sympathy 
by which all that is highest or most trifling is swallowed 
up in the jubilant consciousness of creative omnipotence. 
There pass before our vision the mystic building of earth, 
with the morning stars all around singing for joy ; the 
making of cloud- wraps for the newly born ocean ; the day- 
spring taking hold of the ends of the earth and shaking 
the wicked out of their place, while the monotonous sur- 
face below takes definiteness as clay changing under the 
seal, and the landscape stands out as a figured garment. 
Mysteries of life and death, of light, darkness, and the 
horizon that parts them, are lightly touched. Snow and 
hail reserved as in heaven's treasury against a day of bat- 
tle, forkings of lightnings, scattering of east wind, chan- 
nels of water floods — these are the daily joy of omnipo- 
tence, that forgets not even the solitary desert where no 
man is, but delights it with tender grass. Alike the won- 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 179 

ders of the moving stars and the sport of the dust clods 
when the bottles of heaven's feast are poured out, alike 
the lioness hunting prey and the wild goats rearing their 
families among the rocks, alike the wild ass exulting in 
wilderness freedom and the ox abiding patiently by his 
crib at home : all things great and small have a place in 
the joy of Deity. The ostrich, so foolish that she cannot 
preserve her own young, has yet her pride when she out- 
strips the horse and his rider. The war horse knows no 
more fear than his rider : — 

He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage; 
Neither standeth he still at the voice of the trumpet. 
As oft as the trumpet soundeth he saith, Aha ! 
And he smelleth the battle afar off. 

On the borderland of nature still greater wonders speak 
the Creator's joyous omnipotence : a behemoth, with tail 
as a cedar, bones as tubes of brass and limbs like bars of 
iron, unconcerned amid the swellings of Jordan ; levia- 
than, one complete panoply against all human arts of 
destruction, breathing smoke and flame, with the ocean 
seething white around him. 

When this self-revelation of the God of Nature stands 
before us in its fulness, we are able to see how it finds a 
place in this drama. Alike Job and his friends have 
been confining their attention to the mystery of evil, and 
its burden has become insupportable. What the Voice 
out of the Whirlwind does for them is to remind how the 
great, the good, the magnificent and sublime in nature, is> 
shrouded in the same mystery that surrounds evil. The 
mystery of evil is not solved, but mystery itself is ele- 
vated until it ceases to be a burden. . The innocent suf- 



ISO BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

ferer may turn from the dark providence of his own case, 
and refresh his strength in the contemplation of glorious 
mysteries all around him. So it is with Job. As long as 
he merely had suffering to endure, the sufferer met this 
with ideal patience ; it was when false meanings were 
read into his ruin that Job's faith broke down in weary 
complainings. When the shock of whirlwind interpreta- 
tion changes the current of his thoughts, he returns to 
more than his first faith. 

I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; 
But now mine eye seeth thee : 
"Wherefore I abhor myself. 
And repent in dust and ashes. 

Some have inquired at this point, Of what then does Job 
repent? But it must be remembered that from the out- 
set Job has never claimed to be sinless. Conscious of 
freedom from such crimes as would justify his ruin, he 
has passionately desired to come into the presence of the 
Divine Judge. But in that presence even the faintest 
sense of sin abhors itself in dust and ashes. 

The whole dramatic portion of Job has now been 
covered. Side by side with its moral impressiveness, we 
cannot fail to catch the literary interest of the poem as a 
dramatisation of wisdom literature. The dogma of judg- 
ment, which enabled wisdom in its first stage to maintain 
a philosophic calm by ignoring the real difficulties of life, 
is here confronted by an actual experience which directly 
challenges it. The resulting movement of thought car- 
ries us, now in the direction of sacred philosophy in its 
stage of storm and stress, when the universe seemed a 
mystery of contradictions ; now in the direction of that 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 181 

later triumph of wisdom which explained this world by 
the light of the world to come. And the finale turns 
back to the other side of primitive wisdom, which supple- 
mented its observations of human life by unquestioning 
contemplation of God's whole creation, and found it, as 
its Creator had found it, very good. 

We may now turn to the narrative story which serves 
as prologue and epilogue to the drama of Job. The 
scene enlarges to take in heaven ; we pass outside the 
wisdom literature that observes human life, and have 
unveiled to us mysteries of the supernatural world. It 
may be asked, to what type of literature, if not to wisdom, 
are the prologue and epilogue of this book to be referred ? 
The answer to this question involves the answer to another. 
Are we to understand the two opening chapters as a nar- 
rative of events which actually occurred ? or are they part 
of the parable which the rest of the 'book dramatises ? I 
know no means of settling that question : nor is it neces- 
sary. If the opening story is a story of what has actually 
occurred, then the prologue to Job is in the highest sense 
prophecy : it brings a revelation of truth direct from God 
himself. If, on the other hand, the incident of the coun- 
cil in heaven is only imagined as part of a parable, then 
this maybe called poetic speculation — reverent specula- 
tion upon mysteries of providence. Wisdom literature, 
however, is not speculation as to what may be, but 
observation as to what is. 

It is convenient first to deal with the brief epilogue. 
This narrates that the anger of the Lord was kindled 
against the Friends of Job, because they had not said of 
him the thing that was right, as his servant Job had. 



182 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Thus the reverent boldness of Job, that could appeal from 
God's judgments to God's justice, was more acceptable 
to him than the servile adoration of the Friends, who had 
sought to bend the facts in order to magnify God. God 
himself has no higher interest than the truth. 

In our study of the prologue, we are at the very com- 
mencement encountered by a serious obstacle — a popu- 
lar and widespread misunderstanding, that rests upon 
an infelicity in the received translations. It is written 
how the sons of God came to present themselves before 
the Lord, and "Satan" came also among them. Even 
in King James's version the margin offers the alternative 
"or the Adversary." But the difference between these 
two readings is immense. The Hebrew word Satan 
means adversary: but it is used in different parts of 
Scripture in two very different ways. Sometimes it ap- 
pears as a proper name : Satan, the Adversary of God 
and author of evil. In other places the word is only a 
title of an office — the Satan or Adversary : in no way 
hostile to God, but an ' adversary' in the sense that an 
overseer or inspector is for the time being the adversary 
of those he oversees or inspects. The Hebrew concep- 
tion was that under God the supreme judge there were 
viceroys, called sometimes ' the holy ones,' sometimes 
' sons of God ' or even ' gods.' Sometimes they appear 
to have different worlds for their provinces : — 

When the morning stars sang together, 
And all the sons of God shouted for joy. 1 

In other places peoples of the earth are their charge. 
Thus in the eighty-second psalm we have an arraignment 
of these supernatural viceroys of God. 

1 Job xxxviii. 7. 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 183 

God standeth in the congregation of God; 
He judgeth among the gods. 

The supreme God inveighs against the moral confusion 
that reigns through the earth, and threatens the slack 

overseers. 

I said, Ye are gods, 
And all of you sons of the Most High. 
Nevertheless ye shall die like men, 
And fall like one of the princes. 

The superhuman character of these world-overseers is 
shown in the fact that the punishment threatened is 
their degradation to the rank of mortals. So the Satan 
or Adversary in the prologue to Job comes amongst the 
sons of God j there is no difference between his recep- 
tion and the reception of the rest. These have come 
from their several provinces ; the Satan reports himself 
as Inspector of Earth : he comes " from going to and 
fro in the earth and walking up and down in it." If 
misleading associations from the other use of the word 
"Satan" are dismissed, it will be seen that there is noth- 
ing malignant in the action attributed to this official of 
heaven. He simply performs the duty of his office when 
he raises the question of the true meaning of Job's piety : 
it is the office of an inspector to suspect. It is indeed 
from the lips of this Adversary that we are to receive the 
highest interpretation of the mystery of suffering. 

When once this misunderstanding has been cleared 
out of the way, the narrative becomes luminous with sug- 
gestion. In the councils of heaven the province of Earth 
is under review, and God instances Job as a type of per- 
fect service. The Inspector of Earth, as in duty bound, 
puts the possibility that what seems to be perfection may 



184 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

be only policy. Job has had a life of unbroken prosperity : 
according to the doctrine of judgment — that righteous- 
ness brings prosperity and sin brings ruin — Job may 
have only been manifesting enlightened self-interest, in 
continuing the conduct which has seemed so well re- 
warded. If however he were to be visited with adver- 
sity, there would be a chance for Job to show whether 
he would cling to goodness when goodness brought no 
reward. The experiment is permitted ; for life is a state 
of probation. Job is suddenly overwhelmed with ruin : 
he does not merely accept the ruin, but makes it an 
occasion for remembering the giver of the happiness he 

has lost. 

The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : 
Blessed be the name of the Lord. 

In the council of heaven that follows the Adversary honours 
the constancy of Job by advancing a still severer test, and 
is permitted to smite the patriarch with loathsome dis- 
ease. Even the good wife of Job loses faith at last, and 
bids her husband renounce all belief in God. Not so 
Job : he asks, Shall we receive good at the hand of God, 
and shall we not receive evil? The experiment has been 
complete, and probationary suffering may be withdrawn ; 
when the narrative is resumed in the epilogue, it is told 
how all his prosperity returned to Job, and he waxed 
greater than before. 

Thus the prologue to Job has opened out a higher view 
of suffering than any that appears in the dramatic dis- 
cussion. In the councils of heaven, where the ways of 
providence are determined upon, suffering is seen em- 
ployed as a test of saintship ; the unmerited troubles of 
the good are the only means whereby they have the 



OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 185 

opportunity of showing whether they love good for its 
own sake, or whether they have only been following right 
because they believe it brings happiness. It was from zeal 
for the righteousness of providence that the three Friends 
and Elihu contended for their doctrine of judgment : that 
fate is always determined by character. They fail to see 
that if this were so — if there were an invariable connec- 
tion between right action and prosperity, wrong action and 
ruin — then goodness in the highest sense would be im- 
possible ; man would have no moral choice between right 
and wrong, but only a question of self-interest as between 
prosperity and suffering. It is the breaches in the law 
of retribution — the wicked often allowed to prosper, 
while the righteous must suffer the penalties of the 
wicked — that make the final sifting, between those who 
are simply wise, and those who are truly good. Job in 
the midst of his perfect life is visited with ruin : he rises 

higher — 

Though he slay me, I will trust him. 

The three children of Babylon are confronted with the 
fiery furnace for their piety ; they are speaking their past 
convictions when they say, — 

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burn- 
ing fiery furnace, — 

but they rise higher in the crisis of judgment, and face 
the other alternative, — 

but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not 
serve thy gods. 

The highest point that can be reached by wisdom, with 
its reflections on human life, is an enlightened conception 
of retribution : Righteousness is the way to prosperity, 



186 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

if not here, then hereafter. But the prologue to Job 
opens out a higher conception still : Righteousness, 
though at the cost of prosperity. Beyond wisdom there 
is faith. 

Such then is The Book of Job. Its central part draws 
into a single dramatic movement all the varying aspects 
of wisdom, the wisdom that founds itself upon observa- 
tion of life. The prologue and epilogue rise beyond 
wisdom, to the faith that can penetrate into the mysteries 
of the supernatural. 



CHAPTER VI 

NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 

In the ordinary acceptance of the term, the wisdom 
literature of Holy Scripture is limited to books of the Old 
Testament and Apocrypha. Yet three books of the 
New Testament may profitably be read in this connec- 
tion, although it must be said at once that for two out of 
the three the term ' wisdom literature ' would be an im- 
perfect description. The appearance of Jesus Christ upon 
earth has effected a vast revolution in human thought ; 
not so much in the thoughts men may think, as in what 
men actually do think. The philosophic tone of mind 
which realises itself in wisdom must have felt this revolu- 
tion. It is not surprising, then, to find that one of the 
New Testament epistles, and two of the gospels, differ 
from other gospels and epistles in the degree in which 
they approach the literary character of philosophy or 
wisdom. These three works are the subject of the pres- 
ent chapter. 

Wisdom Christianised : The Epistle of St. James 

In this work there is nothing of the epistle except the 
superscription. The regular order of thought which 
appears in Hebrews or Romans is lacking ; nor is there 
a trace of that reference to affairs of particular churches 
which characterises the pastoral epistles. Like the Old 

187 



1SS BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Testament books of wisdom, this epistle is a miscellany 
of sayings, essays, and discourses. The topics are such 
as these : 1 The Joy of Temptation, The Prayer for Wis- 
dom, On Respect of Persons, Faith and Works, The 
Judgment to Come. The book is thus a collection of 
meditations on life, as life is lived among the followers of 
Christ. It is Wisdom Christianised. 

Of the other books of wisdom Ecclesiasticus is the one 
which St. James's epistle most resembles. Indeed, even- 
reader of the two books is struck by the way in which 
St. James has meditated upon and absorbed the thoughts 
of the son of Sirach. It would be easy by parallel pas- 
sages to bring out the close resemblance of the two 
writers. It is more important to bring out their differ- 
ences. 

Ecclesiasticus moralises upon a world bounded by 
death. There is not so much as the thought of a future 
life : where the son of Sirach sees his doctrine of the 
judgment on sin contradicted by facts, he looks for its 
vindication no farther than the posterity of the sinner in 
the next generation. 2 At a later stage of Old Testament 
wisdom immortality is recognised, and made a foundation 
for wisdom. 3 Of course, in the Christian thought of St. 
James the future immortality is an article of faith. But 
St. James goes farther than this. Not only is there a 
judgment to come, but it is close at hand. The apostle 
speaks as one of those who are living in the last days, for 
whom it is folly to say, To-day or to-morrow we will go 
into this city and spend a year there and trade and get 

!For references, see in the Appendix. 

- Especially the Essay I, xliv, j>. Chapter xi. 11-28. 

3 Above, page 155, Wisdom of Solomon. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 189 

gain. To his suffering brethren he cries that the coming 
of the Lord is at hand, that the "judge standeth before 
the doors." The old wisdom maxims of rich and poor 
become charged with tenfold force at this final moment 
of time. The luxurious oppressors of the poor are fools 
investing in a future they are never to see. " Ye have 
laid up your treasure in the last days." 

One feature separated Ecclesiasticus from the rest even 
of Old Testament wisdom. Most of the wisdom writings 
reflect on life in general, rather than the special life of 
Israel. The son of Sirach is an enthusiastic Israelite ; 
and the centre of his veneration is the Law. It is he 
who poetically imagines x Wisdom wandering lonely over 
the whole creation, until its Author bids her find a taber- 
nacle in Jacob ; dropping poetry for prose the son of 
Sirach adds : — 

All these things are the book of the covenant of the Most 
High God, even the law which Moses commanded us for a 
heritage unto the assemblies of Jacob. 

Now St. James also is forever exalting " law" : but with 
him it is if the law of liberty." The first burning question 
of the Christian church had been the relation of its con- 
verts to the Mosaic system, and with difficulty had been 
won the doctrine of freedom from such law. To too 
many Christians of that age this freedom came as a 
reaction to license. To St. James this liberty is a deeper 
and more binding law : a heart devotion in place of 
superficial conformity. He exalts " the perfect law, the 
law of liberty." 

Not only was the author of Ecclesiasticus a worshipper 

1 Preface to Book II (see in the Appendix), or Chapter xxiv. 



190 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

of the Law, but he exalts above all men the scribes, 
whose business is to expound this law of Moses. In his 
most elaborate essay 1 he pours contempt upon the idea 
that ' wisdom ' is possible for him who holds the plough, 
for the artificer and workmaster, the smith or potter. 
These have indeed a lower wisdom of their own. 

All these put their trust in their hands; and each becometh 
wise in his own work. ... In the handywork of their craft 
is their prayer. 

As against such classes of men the son of Sirach exalts 
the men of leisure, who can apply themselves to the law 
of the Most High. The scribe upholds his order as an 
aristocracy of wisdom : his successors in St. James's day 
would cry, The people that knoweth not the law is ac- 
cursed. Very different is the tone of the New Testament 
epistle. 

My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Lord of Glory, with respect of persons. For if there come 
into your synagogue a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, 
and there come in also a poor man in vile clothing; and ye 
have regard to him that weareth the fine clothing, and say, Sit 
thou here in a good place; and ye say to the poor man, 
Stand thou there, or sit under my footstool; do ye not make 
distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil 
thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren; did not God 
choose them that are poor as to the world to be rich in faith? 

St. James also distinguishes two wisdoms : but the one is 
the wisdom that cometh from above, pure, peaceable, 
gentle. The aristocratic spirit of the scribe he would 
have relegated to the other wisdom, which is " earthly, 
sensual, devilish." 

But there was another side, as we have seen, to early 

1 III, xv (see in the Appendix), or Chapter xxxviii. 24. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 191 

wisdom, when it turned from reflection on details of life 
to contemplate, in a tone of adoration, the universe as 
a whole. The counterpart of this in the New Testa- 
ment epistle is, not adoration, but reverent speculation 
as to foundation mysteries of life. The profoundest 
writing of St. James is his essay on the Origin of Evil 
and Good in Man. 1 It starts with the topic of tempta- 
tion, by which the presence in us of the conflicting prin- 
ciples is brought to the surface. The oldest wisdom had 
recognised how evil is a thing foreign to God's creation. 
So St. James insists that God, whose nature cannot be 
tempted with evil, cannot be the foundation of tempta- 
tion on earth. Its origin is thus expressed. 

Each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own 
lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, 
beareth sin : and the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth 
death. 

The image of childbirth is employed. One parent is 
the individual will ; the other parentage is left vague. 
There is the due period of gestation, and sin is born. 
But the image is carried forward, as it were, to a second 
generation, and sin then bears death. The literary 
reader will remember how this thought of St. James is 
made by Milton the foundation of a noble myth. Satan, 
on his journey to introduce temptation on earth, is en- 
countered at Hell gate by the forms of Sin and Death. 
Satan and the monster Death are on the verge of con- 
flict, when the form of Sin rushes between, and hails the 
two as father and son. To their amazed questioning 
Sin makes answer, addressing Satan : 2 — 

1 See in the Appendix, or yames i. 12-24. 

2 Paradise Lost, ii. 747. 



192 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem 
Now in thine eye so foul? once deemed so fair 
In heav'n, when at th' assembly, and in sight 
Of all the seraphim with thee combined 
In bold conspiracy against Heav'n's King, 
All on a sudden miserable pain 
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swam 
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast 
Threw forth; till on the left side opening wide, 
Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright, 
Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed, 
Out of thy head I sprung : amazement seized 
All th' host of Heav'n; back they recoiled afraid 
At first, and called me Sin : and for a sign 
Portentous held me; but familiar grown, 
I pleased, and with attractive graces won 
The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft 
Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing 
Becamest enamoured, and such joy thou took'st 
With me in secret, that my womb conceived 
A growing burden. 

With the thought of St. James Milton has skilfully com- 
bined the classic myth of Athene springing fully armed 
out of the brain of Jove — an offspring born of a single 
parent without aid of mother. The speech of Sin con- 
tinues, to tell how, sunk to Hell, she brought forth the 
hideous monster Death. But Milton carries the thought 
farther : fresh incest between Death and Sin begets hell- 
ish monsters who prey upon their own mother. The 
dread pedigree stands fully revealed : Lust, Sin, Death, 
Corruption. 

The essay turns to the origin in us of Good. ' The image 
of child-bearing is again used, but God is now the parent. 

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth 
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 193 

The germ so begotten in the soul St. James calls " the 
inborn word." He proceeds to the development of this 
germ of good in man. Having called the germ of good 
an inborn word, he naturally uses the image of listening : 
we must listen patiently to catch the faint voice within, 
avoiding all that would drown the gentle sound. 

Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath : 
. . . putting away all nlthiness and overflowing of wickedness, 
receive with meekness the inborn word. 

Had the essay stopped here, the impression would have 
been left that only passive attention was necessary. The 
author goes on to the thought that what is heard must be 
translated into action : we must be doers of the word, and 
not hearers only. The image changes to that of a mirror : 

If any one is a header of the word, and not a doer, he is like 
unto a man beholding his natural face in a mirror : for he be- 
holdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth 
what manner of man he was. 

But what of him who doeth as well as heareth? He will 
behold his action reflected in the mirror of the law. But 
St. James adds his favourite idea : it mast be " the per- 
fect law, the law of liberty." The essay ends with a con- 
trast between word religion, and the religion of unspotted 
thought and charitable action. 

In its form then The Epistle of St. James is a reversion 
to the miscellany of wisdom literature in its earliest stage. 
In its matter we see human life, whether in its details of 
action or mysteries of faith, as life was leavened by the 
spirit of Christianity. 



194 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Wisdom applied to the Life of Christ 
The Gospel of St. Matthew 

It would be an imperfect description of St. Matthew's 
gospel to speak of it as wisdom literature. Yet its dis- 
tinctiveness from the other gospels is brought out if we 
regard it as the spirit of wisdom applying itself to the 
supreme topic, the life and work of Jesus Christ. To 
realise this description we must here, as elsewhere, keep 
distinct the two functions of wisdom : wise reflections on 
various aspects of human life, and again, the comprehen- 
sion in a single view of the whole providential government 
of God. 

St. Matthew's gospel, it is obvious, abounds with wise 
proverbs of humanity and life. There is surely nothing 
derogatory to higher claims of Jesus if we say that he 
must be included in the inner circle of the world's liter- 
ary authors : what Homer is in epic poetry, what Shake- 
speare is among dramatists, that Jesus of Nazareth is as a 
sayer of sayings. Nor is there any need to inquire curi- 
ously, as some have done, how far the familiar sayings of 
Jesus have been anticipated by his predecessors. Origi- 
nality has no place in wisdom literature : in regard to 
Ecclesiasticus or Ecclesiastes, it is impossible to determine 
which sayings of these books were ' pondered ' by their 
authors, and which ' sought out ' and added to their col- 
lections. Proverbs are commonplaces : wisdom appears 
in the selection of what sayings are to be made prominent 
as the true interpretation of life. It is hardly necessary 
to use illustrations at this point. Let the dead bury their 
dead — They that are whole need not a physician, but 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 195 

they that are sick — Men put not new wine into old 
wine-skins — I came not to send peace but a sword upon 
earth — Wisdom hidden from the wise and prudent and 
revealed unto babes — The kingdom of heaven suffereth 
violence — He that saveth his life shall lose it — He that 
hath to him shall be given — Render unto Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are 
God's : these paradoxes are amongst the profoundest of 
life's principles. Yet these are among the slighter say- 
ings of Jesus. What literature associates mainly with his 
name are the wonderful parables : children love them, 
they are grasped at once by the unlettered ; yet the deep 
thinker, the more he thinks, sees more and more a whole 
philosophy of life standing out clear from a story of half- 
a-dozen lines. 

Such sayings and parables are recorded in all the gos- 
pels : more of them by St. Matthew than by the other 
evangelists. But of the first gospel there is a further 
distinctiveness in the way in which such sayings are 
brought together into a system of wisdom. What tradi- 
tion calls ' The Sermon on the Mount ' is no sermon, as 
we understand the term. The characteristic teaching of 
Jesus in the earlier part of his career is here massed 
together and made a symmetrical whole : the teach- 
ing is the teaching of Jesus, the arrangement — as com- 
parison with other gospels shows — is the arrangement of 
St. Matthew. In accordance with the usage of the term 
elsewhere this Sermon on the Mount would be fitly enti- 
tled : ' The Wisdom of Jesus.' 

For the form given to Christ's teaching in the Sermon 
on the Mount St. Matthew has gone to Old Testament 
wisdom. When properly printed its structure will be 



196 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

seen to be founded on the f maxim ' : the saying which is 
made up of a proverb text and an expansion in prose. 
Six divisions of the discourse are maxims of this kind ; it 
is in keeping with all wisdom literature that the seventh 
division should be found to be a string of shorter sayings 
and maxims. 1 Such considerations of form have a bear- 
ing upon interpretation. Thus, the opening of the Ser- 
mon on the Mount is known as ' The Beatitudes/ and it 
is customary to reckon them as eight in number. We 
should rather say that there is but one beatitude : what 
follows is its sevenfold expansion. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, 

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 
Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed 
are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they 
shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain 
mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see 
God. Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called 
sons of God. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for 
righteousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, and persecute 
you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in 
heaven : for so persecuted they the prophets which were 
before you. 

The opening couplet gives the keynote of Christ's work 
among men : the centre of gravity of human life has 
been shifted, what before was great has become small, 
the small has become great. Those who read eight beati- 
tudes have some difficulty in deciding exactly what is the 

1 It is so printed in the St. Matthew volume of The Modern Reader's 
Bible. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 197 

distinctive meaning of the term ' poor in spirit.' But for 
the meaning of this we must look to the seven sentences 
that expand it. Who are are the poor in spirit? The 
mourners : the thought of the Preacher 1 is echoed, that 
it is better to go into the house of mourning than into 
the house of feasting, how there is a deeper wisdom in 
sorrow than in joy. Who are the poor in spirit? The 
meek : those whom once Eliphaz contrasted with lords 
of great inheritance : — 

Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, 

And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry; 

But as for the mighty man, he had the land, 

And the honourable man, he dwelt in it : 

Thou hast sent widows away empty, 

And the arms of the fatherless have been broken. 

Now this is reversed ; it is the meek who are the magnates 
of the new kingdom. Who are the poor in spirit? They 
that hunger and thirst after righteousness : not the Phari- 
sees, whose broad phylacteries, and alms done before 
men, and prayers in the corners of the streets, proclaim 
that. they have attained, but the publican smiting his 
breast with a sense of emptiness of all spiritual attain- 
ment. Who are the poor in spirit? The pure in heart : 
the fifteenth psalm has sung the purification of life and 
humility of heart which might fit him who should sojourn 
in God's tabernacle ; more blessed now the pure shall 
see God himself. Who are the poor in spirit? The 
merciful and not the oppressor ; the peacemaker, in con- 
trast with the warrior who has received the homage of 
men hitherto. Seventhly and lastly, who are the poor in 
spirit? The curtain of the far past and future is lifted, 

1 Ecclesiastes vii, 2, 



198 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

and the long array is seen of those who suffer persecution 
for righteousness' sake : but at this moment it is a sight 
for rejoicing, for the persecutor seems less blessed than 
his victim. 

There follow two maxims on the texts, Ye are the salt 
of the earth, Ye are the light of the world. Brief com- 
ments enforce each. Salt is not food, but that which gives 
food its savour : if it ceases to produce effect on what is 
about it, it is of all things the most useless. So light is 
not light if it is hidden : the church that does not make 
goodness attractive has lost its right to exist. The central 
place of honour in the whole discourse is given to the 
text : — 

Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets : 
I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. 

The elaborate comment on this calls for a righteousness 
to exceed the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees : 
it leads up to the thought, Be ye perfect. Other maxims 
bring out the heavenward reference of our actions, more 
than this, of our very desires. The final section strings 
together many wise sayings, and finds a conclusion to the 
whole discourse in the parable of the man that built on 
the rock and the man that built on the sand. 

It is time to turn to the other conception of wisdom, 
the survey of Divine providence as a whole. Such larger 
wisdom is many-sided : only a single aspect of it has 
application to the present case, and this is Divine wis- 
dom as reflected in history. From three out of the five 
books of wisdom so far reviewed history has been alto- 
gether absent ; no place for it was found in Proverbs, or 
Job, or The Epistle of St. James. It appears in the last 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 199 

and longest section of Ecclesiasticus : here history is 
drawn within the general wisdom that is a theme for 
adoration, and the invocation, " Let us now praise 
famous men," ushers in a glorious succession of the 
fathers. Where The Wisdom of Solomon touches history, 
it is to trace the minute workings of providential govern- 
ment in the guidance of the chosen people through the 
wilderness to the land of promise. To St. Matthew wis- 
dom history takes another form yet : the distinguishing 
task of this evangelist is to trace the expansion of the 
kingdom of heaven upon earth. 

The early sections of the first gospel seem only pre- 
liminary. They are occupied with recognising in Jesus 
the fulfilment of prophecy \ though even here it is sug- 
gestive that St. Matthew alone records the Visit of the 
Wise Men to the infant Christ. The true starting point 
of the history is found at the words :• — 

From that time began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent 
ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

It needs an effort on our part to realise the full force of 
this simple sentence. The history of Israel as a spirit- 
ual kingdom, with no ruler except the invisible God, had 
broken down in shame and captivity. Redeemed from 
exile a small remnant had indeed been able to found a 
spiritual community ; but generations of bitter history 
had mocked their hopes, and crushed them beneath a 
foreign yoke. Meanwhile, they had seen their dreams of 
a world empire fulfilled before their eyes, but not for 
them : it was Rome that had the nations for its inheri- 
tance and the uttermost parts of the earth for its possession. 
Their one yearning, as they surveyed the providence of 



200 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

history, was for the promised leader who should restore 
the kingdom from Rome to Israel, and change earthly 
domination to the rule of heaven through its Messiah. 
At this juncture the Israelite pointed out by the Baptist 
as his successor moves through the land, crying that " The 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

Following this starting point we find the Sermon on 
the Mount. This is simply the charter of the king- 
dom of heaven : the constitution and principles of the 
new society. All the rest of the gospel is occupied with 
the realisation in actual fact of the kingdom of heaven, 
so long as the life of its founder on earth extends. It 
is profound philosophical history : clear and pointed in 
its arrangement, when once the principle of this arrange- 
ment has been caught. The foundation thought of 
St. Matthew as the historian of Christ's kingdom on earth 
may be best given by an image used in the gospel itself. 
John the Baptist says of his successor : — 

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly cleanse his 
threshing floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, 
but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. 

The words must not be limited to some far-off event 
of judgment. From the moment of Christ's first appear- 
ance his word is a winnowing fan, dividing and sunder- 
ing among men : more and more the true seed is drawing 
together, nucleus for the kingdom of heaven ; more and 
more what is incongruous and out of harmony is being 
repelled, swelling into a heap of mere chaff for the burn- 
ing. This one thought dominates St. Matthew's whole 
gospel, and underlies its very structure. 

Perhaps the following scheme may give assistance in 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 201 

catching the historian's plan, and the way in which his 
narrative falls into natural divisions in relation to a fun- 
damental idea. 

i* 
Birth of Jesus. 

2 
Appearance of Jesus in public. 

3 
Opening of the Ministry : the Sermon on the Mount. 

4 
The Winnowing Fan : Gathering of Disciples and Hints of An- 
tagonism. 

5 6 

[ The Church] Organisation [ The World~\ Growing Isola- 

of Apostles and the Sevenfold tion of Jesus from contemporary 

Commission. Religion/ 

7 8 

[The Church] The Public [The World'] The Greater 

Parable and the Private Inter- Miracles and the Growing An- 

pretation. tagonism. 

9 io 

[The Church] Full Recog- [The World] Entry into Jeru- 

nition of the Kingdom by the salem and Breach with the Ruling 

Disciples. Classes. 

II 12 

[The Church] The Seven- [The World] The Passion 

fold Revelation of the End to and Resurrection of Jesus, 
the Disciples. 

* For references, see St. Matthew in the Appendix. 



202 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The section that follows the Sermon on the Mount 
presents the kingdom of heaven in embryo : we see to- 
gether for a while the elements which later on drew 
farther and farther apart. It gives the first impressions 
made by the preaching of Christ : the gathering of dis- 
ciples around him, and also the hints — at this point no 
more than hints — of antagonism that is to come. The 
first band of twelve disciples is founded ; the leper and 
paralytic are driven by their sufferings to Jesus ; demons 
bear testimony to him ; a centurion appears, firstfruits 
of followers outside the ranks of Israel ; even rulers and 
scribes press in, and Jesus must restrain the growing 
excitement. At the same time we hear doubts — but 
unspoken doubts — when the sinner is pronounced for- 
given; respectful questionings follow, why Jesus should 
shock patriotism by companying with publicans, why 
shock morality by eating with open sinners. The sec- 
tion reaches an appropriate close in a brief incident : 
a wonder of healing has been done ; the multitude cry 
that nothing like it has been seen in Israel ; the Phari- 
sees mutter in their hearts the blasphemy that later will 
be spoken openly. 

From this point St. Matthew's narrative falls into a suc- 
cession of diverging and contrasting sections. The win- 
nowing fan is doing its work : alternately our attention 
is occupied, now with the followers of Jesus approaching 
more and more nearly to an organised kingdom of 
heaven, now with the world outside, repelled more and 
more to antagonism that is strong enough at last to 
quench the earthly life of the Master. 

The fifth section in the arrangement I am suggesting 
gives us the first stage in the organisation of the kingdom 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 203 

— the sending forth of missionaries. Its starting point is 
the thought that the harvest truly is great, but the labour- 
ers are few. It is characteristic that where other gospels 
show various expeditions and successive injunctions, St. 
Matthew gathers the whole into a single organisation of 
apostles and a sevenfold commission. The mission is 
limited to Israel : the chosen people are to have the first 
message of the kingdom. No force may be used in the 
spreading of the gospel : only works of preaching and 
healing. It is not a hired ministry : freely the apostles 
have received ; they must freely give. Yet they are to 
accept hospitality : the labourer is worthy of his hire. 
Attitude to the inevitable opposition is laid down : the 
representatives of Jesus are to be as sheep among wolves. 
Another article puts the paradox of the kingdom, that 
Christ is come not to send peace upon earth but a sword : 
the proclamation of the kingdom of peace will bring a 
warfare, not between nation and nation, but within each 
household, with daughter in law arrayed against mother 
in law and mother in law against daughter in law. Fi- 
nally, the reward is spiritual : he that receives a prophet 
in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. 
The section that follows turns to the world without : 
we see the growing isolation of Jesus as his ministry pro- 
gresses. At the outset John the Baptist sends a message 
of impatience : Art thou he that should come, or look we 
for another? The message is gently answered; then 
Jesus sorrowfully recognises, not indeed antagonism, but 
the imperfection of his great predecessor. 

Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen 
a greater than John the Baptist : yet he that is but little in the 
kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 



204 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Now we find isolation from the wisdom of the world, 
such wisdom as appears established in the great cities 
that are rejecting the light. Wisdom is hidden from the 
wise and revealed unto babes, and henceforward Jesus 
turns to the weary and heavy laden. Separation is next 
seen from the great national institution of the sabbath : 
not, indeed, from the sabbath itself, but from the osten- 
tatious observance which was cherished as a badge of 
Judaism. Jesus will not have his disciples hindered from 
plucking ears of corn on their sabbath walks, he will not 
cease his work of healing : the son of man is lord of the 
sabbath. At last the Master is in open rupture with the 
religious world. Pharisees speak out the blasphemy they 
had before muttered — that Christ must be casting out 
devils by aid of the prince of devils. This is to Jesus the 
climax of evil : worse than opposition to himself, it is 
antagonism against the spirit of healing, to which alone 
he appeals for evidence of his mission. It is a sin that 
knows no forgiveness : these words of Jesus are not a 
threat, but a sorrowful reflection : what hope can there 
be for those who are attacking the spirit of healing itself? 
The historical instinct of Matthew has concluded this 
section with the sundering of Jesus from his own kindred, 
who vainly interfere. Henceforward his mother and his 
brethren are they that do the will of his Father which is 
in heaven. 

The seventh section returns to the children of the 
kingdom. An era in the teaching of Jesus seems to be 
marked by the parable of the Sower, and the six parables 
that follow. But the parable does not stand alone j 
Matthew seems to be presenting at one view the whole 
institution of the Public Parable and the Private Inter- 
pretation. — 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 205 

And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest 
thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto 
them : Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the king- 
dom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever 
hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but 
whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that 
which he hath. 

The force of this remarkable passage is somewhat lost to 
the English reader by the change, in modern speech, in 
the signification of the word l mystery.' In Bible English 
it must be understood in such sense as in the expression, 
The Eleusinian Mysteries : secret societies, with a super- 
ficial truth presented to the outside world, a hidden 
meaning for those, who are initiated. The ' mystery of 
godliness ' is not its strangeness, but the great truth that 
godliness is not an open philosophy, which all can judge 
of for themselves, but a spiritual experience which can 
be learned only by being godly. The hymn- writer has 
expressed the essence of the thought in his spiritual 
rapture : — 

The love of Jesus, what it is, 

None but his loved ones know. 

The parable is itself a winnowing fan ■ and the kingdom 
of heaven has reached a higher stage of organisation in 
this distinction of the hearers who only hang on the 
word, and the disciples who have pressed into the hidden 
meaning. 

We pass from this to hear of the Greater Miracles and 
the Growing Antagonism. The miracles of this section 
are greater only in the sense that they are more wide- 
reaching. St. Matthew records here, not cases of indi- 
vidual healing, but the feeding of multitudes by miracu- 



206 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

lous means, the power of Jesus to control the sea itself; 
again — hardly less wonderful to its own age — the sight 
of Jesus at his sacred work in the heathen regions of 
Tyre and Sidon, with a Canaanitish woman receiving 
crumbs from Israel's table. Side by side with -this we 
see the repelling influence of the gospel growing greater. 
At the outset of this section Christ's own city has cast him 
off. Then comes the deputation from Jerusalem inquir- 
ing why the Tradition of the Elders is being transgressed. 
This Tradition of the Elders means the whole religious 
orthodoxy of the period. Reverence for the Law of 
Moses had long before passed into an idolatry ; lest inad- 
vertence might transgress, successive teachers had built 
' a hedge about the law ' — minute distinctions of lawful 
and unlawful, the frivolity of which had drawn away 
attention from the spirit of the Law itself. When Jesus 
appeals from letter to spirit his closest followers receive 
a shock. But the Master is resolute : every plant which 
his heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. 
The kingdom of heaven has sundered itself from the 
Tradition of the Elders: henceforward it is at war with 
the religion of the land. 

But when, in the ninth section, we are again among 
the followers of Jesus, we see the advancing kingdom of 
heaven attain its foundation faith. Peter is the spokes- 
man : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
This confession of Peter (Petros) is the rock (petra) on 
which the church is to stand. But at once it is added : — ■ 

From that time began Jesus to shew unto his disciples how 
that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third 
day be raised up. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 207 

When Peter protests, he is repelled as a tempter, and 
the other side of the foundation faith is made clear: 
whoso would follow Christ must deny himself and take 
up his cross. Only when the claim of the Messiahship 
is united with the doctrine of the cross do we reach the 
Transfiguration, and Jesus is seen in his glory, the Law 
and Prophets doing him reverence. 

The rest of this crowning section of St. Matthew's 
gospel is filled with questions of the kingdom thus fully 
revealed. Shall the kingdom of heaven pay toll to the 
kingdoms of the earth? But the toll is quietly paid, 
and a little child is set in the midst: as the child with 
his child world stands in the midst of men and women 
and their busy schemes, so is the kingdom of heaven 
among the systems of the world. The problem of sin 
and its forgiveness is raised; the parable of the Fellow- 
servants brings out how all that men can be asked to 
forgive to one another is but a trifle in comparison with 
what God has forgiven themselves. Questions of mar- 
riage and divorce reveal the spiritual nature of a king- 
dom independent of social institutions. The young 
lawyer brings the atmosphere of mammon : the parable 
of the Hired Labourers presents the paradox of a region 
in which economic laws have no place — the last shall 
be rewarded even as the first. Finally, the sons of Zebe- 
dee seek the honours of the kingdom; they learn that in 
the kingdom of heaven lordship is service. 

The kingdom of heaven has attained its firm founda- 
tion : it may now encounter Jerusalem itself, seat of the 
world antagonism with which it is to do battle. To St. 
Matthew there is but one visit to Jerusalem: a royal 
entry amid thousands of the multitude, ending in a 



208 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Temple cleansed and made again a house of prayer. 
What follows is the final breach between Jesus and the 
ruling classes of his nation. The parable of the Two 
Sons is heard: the son who said, I go, and went not; 
the son who in word denied the summons, but whose 
heart was open to repentance. The parable of the 
Vineyard tells how the bidden guests held back, and 
how the marriage feast was for those fetched from the 
highways and the hedges. Isaiah's prophecies contain 
a sevenfold woe : it finds an echo in a sevenfold " Woe 
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." At last 
is heard the final lament : — 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and 
stoneth them that are sent unto her ! how often would I have 
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold, your 
house is left unto you desolate. 

The public ministry of Jesus is ended; the eleventh 
section of the gospel contains the Master's last discourse 
to his followers, in which he is preparing them for the 
dread future, to be encountered after he has been taken 
from them. Mystic warnings stretch into a dim future; 
but the moral is clear: the duty of watchfulness, with 
its parable of the Virgins, the duty of work, set forth by 
the parable of the Talents. At the close of this vista 
into the future, the final parable of the Sheep and Goats 
reveals the end to the kingdom of heaven upon earth : 
the winnowing fan will have done its perfect work in a 
sundering of irreconcilable good and evil. 

Tha last division of all the gospels must be the same : 
philosophical history will not differ from other histories 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 209 

in recording the passion and resurrection of Christ. 
Yet the closing words of St. Matthew are suggestive of 
the whole bent of his writing. Like St. Mark and St. 
Luke he brings Jesus and his disciples to the place of 
parting. But instead of telling, as do the other gospels, 
of a glorious ascension into heaven, Matthew is content 
with the final command to make disciples of all nations, 
and the promise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world." To the last Matthew is the his- 
torian of the kingdom of heaven upon earth. 

The Gospel of St. John as Wisdom Literature 

The study of the fourth gospel, to be adequate, needs 
the assistance of works specially devoted to its exposi- 
tion. All that is here attempted is to indicate in what 
sense St. John's work may be included in the wisdom 
literature of Scripture. 

Every reader will feel the distinctiveness of the fourth 
gospel, not only from other wisdom literature, but even 
from the wisdom gospel of St. Matthew. But there is 
reason for this difference. Wisdom is the philosophy 
of the Hebrews. Now the Hebrew people came at last 
into contact with another people even more philosophi- 
cally inclined than themselves. The mode of thought 
moreover that prevailed among the Greeks was altogether 
different from that which characterised the wise among 
the Hebrews. The two nations began to exercise mutual 
influence upon the thought of each. The gospel of St. 
John is Hebrew wisdom largely leavened by Greek 
modes of thought. 

The distinctive character of Hebrew philosophy is its 



210 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

close relation with practical life: the 'wisdom' that 
pours itself out in practical proverbs and maxims. 
Greek philosophy also had its 'seven wise men,' and 
sayings of these are on record. But early in its career 
Greek philosophy turned from practical life to specula- 
tion. The genius of Socrates, it is true, brought it back 
from barren speculations in the field of natural science 
to questions of life and conduct. But even in the field 
of moral philosophy the powerful influence of Socrates 
encouraged the Greek mind to speculation. He stamped 
upon philosophy a special mode of thought, called by 
the technical name 'dialectics.' Though it is an imper- 
fect explanation, it is sufficient for our present purpose 
to say that 'dialectics ' is to dialogue what logic is to 
monologue. Modern philosophy tends to be the argu- 
ment of a single thinker, its value depending upon the 
value of the conclusion that is reached. But where the 
influence of Socrates prevailed, Greek philosophy came 
to be discussion : often it is the conversation of several 
speakers, and where this is not so, it nevertheless takes 
the form of a thinker arguing with himself. It is no 
injustice to Greek philosophy of this kind to say that its 
interest lay, not so much in the conclusion, as in the 
discussion itself : the play of thought, cross lights 
reflected on to a topic from several minds. 

Now when the fourth gospel is compared with the 
other three, it is precisely this characteristic of dispu- 
tation which is found to distinguish the work of Christ, 
as St. John presents it. The life in Galilee, with its 
simple preaching and works of healing, is scarcely 
noticed in the fourth gospel; what attracts the mind of 
St. John is the spectacle of Jesus in Jerusalem amid the 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 211 

religious thinkers of his nation, who criticise every 
work, and resist every claim: the very terra 'the Jews' 
is used by St. John as a name for the opponents of 
Christ. Hence it is not discourse we find here, but dis- 
putation. It is difficult to do justice to this statement 
without lengthy extracts. 

As he spake these things many believed on him. Jesus 
therefore said to those Jews which had believed him, " If ye 
abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." 

They answered unto him, ' We be Abraham's seed, and have 
never yet been in bondage to any man : how sayest thou, Ye 
shall be made free ? ' 

Jesus answered them, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every 
one that committeth sin is the bondservant of sin. And the 
bondservant abideth not in the house for ever : the son abideth 
for ever. If, therefore, the Son shall make you free, ye shall 
be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; yet ye 
seek to kill me, because my word hath not free course in you. 
I speak the things which I have seen with my Father : and ye 
also do the things which ye heard from your father." 

They answered and said unto him, ' Our Father is Abra- 
ham.' 

Jesus saith unto them, " If ye were Abraham's children, ye 
would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, 
a man that hath told you the truth, which I heard from God : 
this did not Abraham. Ye do the works of your father." 

They said unto him, 'We were not born of fornication; we 
have one Father, even God.' 

Jesus said unto them, " If God were your Father, ye would 
love me : for I came forth and am come from God; for neither 
have I come of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not under- 
stand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. 
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it 
is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, 
and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. 



212 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a 
liar, and the father thereof. But because I say the truth, ye 
believe me not. Which of you convicteth me of sin? If I say 
truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth 
the words of God : for this cause ye hear them not, because ye 
are not of God." 

The Jews answered and said unto him, ' Say we not well 
that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil ? ' 

Jesus answered, " I have not a devil; but I honour my 
Father, and ye dishonour me. But I seek not mine own glory: 
there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall never see death." 

The Jews said unto him, 'Now we know that thou hast a 
devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, 
If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death. Art 
thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the 
prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?' 

Jesus answered, " If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing : 
it is my Father that glorifieth me; of whom ye say, that he is 
your God; and ye have not known him: but I know him; 
and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be like unto you, 
a liar : but I know him, and keep his word. Your father 
Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." 

The Jews therefore said unto him, 'Thou art not yet fifty 
years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? ' 

Jesus said unto them, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before 
Abraham was, I am." 

They took up stones therefore to cast at him : but Jesus hid 
himself, and went out of the temple. 

Now, of course, disputation of this kind is vastly different 
from disputation as it appears in Plato; but so also is 
the life and work of Jesus infinitely different from the 
life and work of Socrates. And, in spite of all differ- 
ences, the disputations of the fourth gospel are nearer 
to Plato than to the gnomic style of Old Testament 
wisdom. 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 213 

This attraction in the mind of St. John to a dialectic 
style is so strong that we find it where we should least 
expect it. Even in the incidents of the life of Jesus 
what attracts St. John is the conflict of thought called 
forth at successive turns of events; so that a narrative, 
in the fourth gospel, comes to wear the air of a discus- 
sion. I instance the trial of Christ before Pilate. 

They lead Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the palace : and 
it was early; and they themselves entered not into the palace, 
that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. 

Pilate therefore went out unto them, and saith, ' What accu- 
sation bring ye against this man? ' 

They answered and said unto him, ' If this man were not an 
evildoer, we should not have delivered him up unto thee.' 

Pilate therefore said unto them, 'Take him yourselves, and 
judge him according to your law.' 

The Jews said unto him, ' It is not lawful for us to put 
any man to death; ' that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, 
which he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should 
die. 

Pilate therefore entered again into the palace, and called 
Jesus, and said unto him, 'Art thou the King of the Jews?' 

Jesus answered, " Sayest thou this of thyself, or did others 
tell it thee concerning me?" 

Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? thine own nation and the 
chief priests delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done?' 

Jesus answered, " My kingdom is not of this world : if my 
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that 
I should not be delivered to the Jews : but now is my kingdom 
not from hence." 

Pilate therefore said unto him, 'Art thou a king then?' 

Jesus answered, " Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end 
have I been born, and to this end am I come into the world, 
that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is 
of the truth heareth my voice. " 

Pilate saith unto him, 'What is truth?' 



214 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, 
and saith unto them, ' I find no crime in him. But ye have a 
custom, that I should release unto you one at the Passover : 
will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? ' 

They cried out therefore again, saying, ' Not this man, but 
Barabbas.' Now Barabbas was a robber. 

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And 
the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, 
and arrayed him in a purple garment ; and they came unto 
him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews ! and they struck him 
with their hands. 

And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, 'Behold, I 
bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in 
him.' Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns 
and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them-, ' Behold, 
the man ! ' 

When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, 
they cried out, saying, ' Crucify him, crucify him.' 

Pilate saith unto them, 'Take him yourselves, and crucify 
him: for I find no crime in him.' 

The Jews answered him, ' We have a law, and by that law 
he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.' 

When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more 
afraid; and he entered into the palace again, and saith unto 
Jesus, 'Whence art thou?' 

But Jesus gave him no answer. 

Pilate therefore saith unto him, ' Speakest thou not unto me ? 
knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have 
power to crucify thee ? ' 

Jesus answered him, " Thou wouldest have no power against 
me, except it were given thee from above : therefore he that 
delivered me unto thee hath greater sin." 

Upon this Pilate sought to release him : but the Jews cried 
out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Csesar's 
friend : every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against 
Csesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought 
Jesus out, and sat down on the judgement-seat at a place called 
•The Pavement,' but in the Hebrew 'Gabbatha.' Now it was 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 215 

the Preparation of the Passover : it was about the sixth hour. 

And he saith unto the Jews, ' Behold your King ! ' 

They therefore cried out, ' Away with him, away with him, 

crucify him.' 

Pilate saith unto them, ' Shall I crucify your King? ' 

The chief priests answered, ■ We have no King but Caesar.' 

Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified. 

It is time to turn from the general style of this fourth 
gospel to the conception of the work as a whole. Here 
again we find a counterpart to wisdom literature, to that 
side of it which contemplates God's universe as a whole, 
or meditates upon foundation principles which underlie 
it. St. John's is a philosophical gospel: a prologue 
lays down a proposition of philosophy — in this case 
of theology — and what follows is the proof of the 
proposition. 

The famous prologue to the fourth gospel is either a 
complex and difficult piece of writing, or a theory com- 
paratively simple and straightforward, according to the 
point of view from which it is approached. All rests 
upon a certain expression, Logos in the original Greek, 
Word in the English version. The English term is a 
fair equivalent for the Greek, with this difference : that 
Logos in Greek, besides its ordinary usage, is also a 
technical term of certain oriental philosophies, involving 
subtle and intricate conceptions. Undoubtedly the 
author of the fourth gospel had in mind these oriental 
systems of thought, and the relations between their con- 
ceptions and the theology he himself believed. Those 
therefore who are concerned with the place of St. John's 
writing in the general history of philosophic thought are 
burdened with a difficult task, that of catching and for- 



216 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

mulating the relations between Christian and oriental 
philosophy. But where the question is only of the 
fourth gospel as a work of Christian literature, the pro- 
logue is comparatively simple. Both the original 
expression and the English translation 'Word' indicate 
what we in modern times should convey by using the 
term 'Revelation.' The argument is as to the relation- 
ship between 'Revelation ' and Jesus Christ. 

For the form of this prologue St. John has gone to 
wisdom literature; he has used that particular form we 
have so often had to notice as the 'maxim.' The maxim 
is a text in proverb form, with a brief prose comment. 
The prologue is made up of three such maxims : two of 
them are texts with comments, the third is the text on 
which the whole gospel is to serve as comment. The 
best way of grasping the argument of the prologue is to 
isolate the three texts, and view them as three steps in 
a progression of thought. 

In the beginning was the Word : 
And the Word was with God: 
And the Word was God. 

2 

And the Word became Flesh, 
And dwelt among us, 
Full of grace and truth. 

3 
No man hath seen God at any time : 
The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, 
He hath declared Him. 

The first proposition fastens attention upon the concep- 
tion of a Revelation of God which is as Divine as the 



NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 217 

God who is revealed. The second tells how in due 
course this Revelation took the form of human flesh. 
The two ideas of Divine Revelation and human flesh 
having thus been brought forward, the third proposition 
unites them in a third conception, Son : the incarnated 
Revelation of God is the Son revealing the Father. The 
full truth of the prologue is Jesus, Son of God, Revealer 
of the Father. 

Comments expand and support the ideas of the first 
two propositions. The Revelation of God which was 
itself Divine was manifested in all creation, all life, in 
the spiritual light which no darkness could overcome. 
John was no -more than a witness to the light that was 
coming. Though created beings might reject that 
which had created them, yet those who accepted could 
become themselves sons of God, begotten by that which 
was God. 1 To the idea of the Word becoming Flesh 
a comment, interjected (as elsewhere in wisdom writ- 
ing 2 ) into the middle of the text, makes the author one 
of many who could bear witness : " We beheld his glory." 
John's testimony is added. And further, previous reve- 
lation was the partial revelation of 'law'; with Jesus 
came the full glory of revelation in 'grace and truth.' 3 

On the third text, as I have already said, the whole 
gospel is the comment. Other gospels are made up of 
the Acts and Words of Jesus. In that of St. John the 
'Acts ' become 'Signs.' The ordinary words that express 
the miraculous works of Christ are almost wanting in 

1 Chapter i. 2-13. 

2 See in Matthew volume of Modern Reader's Bible, page 214. Simi- 
lar forms are in Ecclesiastes volume, pages 25, 37. 

3 i. 14-17. 



218 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

the fourth gospel; the incidents are signs, selected and 
treated with a view to bring out the bearing of each on 
the Divine character of the Worker. Similarly, the 
words of Jesus which St. John relates are those which 
most clearly witness to his claims of Divinity. The 
thought of the prologue having been kept clear through 
every section of the narrative is once more formulated 
in its closing words : — 

Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the 
disciples, which are not written in this book : but these are 
written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 
God : and that believing ye may have life in his name. 



CHAPTER VII 

LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 

Op* creative literature the three natural divisions are 
Epic, Lyric, Drama. Epic poetry, illustrated by such 
works as The Iliad or Paradise Lost, is the poetry which 
relates or describes; it is the author who speaks through- 
out. In Drama, on the contrary, the author nowhere 
appears; it is the actual personages of the story who 
speak, and by their words and acts the incidents are 
presented. Between these two forms stands Lyric poetry 
as poetic meditation : the poet now speaks for himself, 
now identifies himself with other personages, or for a 
time is relating and describing. Lyric poetry is made 
up of songs, odes, sonnets, elegies, meditations, mono- 
logues; as the name implies, it lends itself readily to 
musical accompaniment, and even without this is in 
spirit closely akin to music. 

Three main sources may be recognised for the lyric 
poetry of Scripture. The first of these is the dance. 
Before literature commits itself to writing there is a long 
and important period of spoken poetry, and in this 
spoken stage it is natural for poetry to associate itself 
alike with musical accompaniment and with bodily 
movement and gesticulation. Indeed, these external 
motions of the body may be looked upon as a sort of 
scaffolding, with the aid of which is being gradually 
built up a mental sense of rhythm; in process of time 

219 



220 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

the dance movements, and even the musical accompani- 
ment, drop away, and metrical rhythm is strong enough 
to stand by itself. But in the case of biblical literature, 
just where, by natural evolution, dance movement was 
falling into decay, another influence was encountered of 
an opposite tendency : an elaborate Temple service was 
instituted, and the processionary character of sacred 
ritual restored to later lyrics much of what the dance 
had contributed to poetry in its earliest stage. It is 
thus convenient to indicate three landmarks in the 
development of biblical lyrics. One is the Proces- 
sionary Ode. The second is the Anthem, in which, 
without the full procession, there is some suggestion of 
elaborate performance, such (for example) as provision 
for two or more performers. There is, thirdly, the Song 
or Meditation, which is nothing more than the musical 
outpouring of a single performer. 

Of the full processional ode the Bible contains two 
magnificent examples. One is the triumphal song put 
into the mouth of Israel in the moment of its deliverance 
at the Red Sea; here the text distinctly states how 
Miriam " took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women 
went out after her with timbrels and with dances." 1 
The structure of this Song of Moses and Miriam is very 
simple : the Men, in successive stanzas, celebrate the 
fact of the deliverance itself, the mystic manner in which 
it has been brought about, the panic falling upon all the 
foes who guard the approach to Canaan; between the 
stanzas the Women dance and sing the refrain : — 

Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; 

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 

1 Exodus xv. 20. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 221 

The other is the similar Song of Deborah in triumph 
over the fall of Sisera. We have already seen * how the 
performance of this is in the hands of- a Chorus of Men, 
led by Barak, and a Chorus of Women, led by Deborah; 
how, in tumultuous ecstasy, the two choruses rouse one 
another to their task, interrupt one another with snatches 
of song, play into one another's hands in depicting dif- 
ferent phases of the incident, unite finally in a climax 
of triumph. The two odes are supreme examples of 
early lyric poetry. And they can be fully appreciated 
only by reading them with the same antiphonal rendering 
with which they were originally performed. 

As an interesting link connecting the processional ode 
with the anthems of Temple service we may study the 
Anthems for the Inauguration of Jerusalem. 2 It. will be 
remembered that Jerusalem was originally a Jebusite 
city, deemed an impregnable fortress; its capture was 
the greatest achievement of David » as a military man. 
He resolved to transform the heathen fortress into a 
metropolis for the sacred monarchy of Israel; byway of 
ceremonious inauguration he would convey to Jerusalem 
the ark, as symbol of Divine presence. But this enter- 
prise at its outset received a tragic check. The ark had 
been discovered in the woodlands of Ephraim; drawn 
in a cart, it was being escorted with military pomp, 
when one of the attendants touched the ark as the oxen 
stumbled, and he fell dead. Pomp was converted into 
panic : the ark was hastily conveyed into the house of 
Obed-Edom by the roadside, and for three months 

1 Above, page 3. 

2 For the general narrative of this incident, compare // Samuel vi 
with / Chronicles xiii and xv-xvi. 



222 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

David laboured under a sense of the Divine displeasure. 
The death of Uzzah was interpreted as a judgment upon 
the neglect of the ceremonies ordained for the escort of 
the ark in the wilderness journeys. Accordingly, David 
reorganised a priestly and levitical service, and a second 
time set out to bring the ark to Jerusalem, with a pro- 
cession in which priestly ritual and military pomp were 
to intermingle. In connection with this day of inaugura- 
tion five anthems may be traced. 

David entered upon the ceremonies of the day with 
trepidation of spirit. Hence, as soon as the Levites with 
the ark had moved forward six paces — enough to show 
that the Divine ban had been removed — the procession 
halted for a sacrifice of thanksgiving. At this point the 
anthem seems to have been the thirtieth psalm. It 
breathes a sense of sudden deliverance, the lifting of a 
weight of oppression. 

For his anger is but for a moment; 

His favour is for a life time : 
Weeping may tarry for the night, 

But joy cometh in the morning. 

In no obscure terms comes the suggestion of the shock 
which, three months before, had clouded the hour of 
military triumph with sudden withdrawal of the Divine 
favour : — 

As for me, I said in my prosperity, 
I shall never be moved, 

Thou, Lord, of thy favour haclst made my mountain to 
stand strong : 

Thou didst hide thy face; I was troubled, 

I cried to thee, O Lord; 

And unto the Lord I made supplication. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 223 

There is a return to the sense of deliverance : — 

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; 

Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. 

At the foot of the hill on which Jerusalem stands the 
procession again halted to take breath. Here the 
anthem was the first half of the twenty-fourth psalm. 
The choir divides : one choir raises a note of praise to 
God, and adds the question : — 

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? 
And who shall stand in his holy place ? 

Pausing at the foot of the hill, which this day's ceremony 
is to make the hill of Jehovah, it is natural to ask rever- 
ently, Who is fitted to take part in so solemn an act? 
The answer from the second choir is a description of 
spiritual preparedness of heart, and an assumption of it 
for themselves. 

He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; 

Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, 

And hath not sworn deceitfully. 
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, 

And righteousness from the God of his salvation. 
This is the generation of them that seek after him, 

That seek thy face, O God of Jacob. 

The procession resumed; and the climax of the day's 
ceremony was reached in front of the closed gates of the 
ancient fortress. One of the two choirs had passed 
within, to appear as wardens of Jerusalem. The other 
choir, with king and army, approach and call upon the 
city to receive its conqueror. 

First Choir. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; 

And be ye lift up, ye ancient doors : 
And the King of Glory shall come in. 



224 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Choir of Wardens. Who is the King of Glory ? 

First Choir. The Lord strong and mighty, 
The Lord mighty in battle. 

But the gates refuse to open; for in the response of the 
advancing procession the supreme name of Israel's God 
— the military name, The Lord of Hosts, which serves 
as watchword for this military ceremony — has been pur- 
posely avoided, in order to make it the more emphatic 
when it does come. The summons has to be repeated. 

First Choir. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; 

Yea, lift them up, ye ancient doors; 
And the King of Glory shall come in. 

Choir of Wardens. Who is this King of Glory ? 

At last the watchword of the day is thundered forth by 
choir and army : — 

The Lord of Hosts, 
He is the King of Glory ! 

The ancient gates roll back, the ark enters, and Jehovah 
has taken possession of his city. 

But the proceedings of the day were not yet at an end. 
A temporary tabernacle had been prepared for the ark, 
until the enduring Temple could be built. As the pro- 
cession deposits its sacred burden another sacrifice is 
offered, and with it, as anthem, comes a portion of the 
hundred and thirty-second psalm. 1 It pictures all the 
affliction of David during his three months of anxiety : — 

1 The latter part of the psalm (from verse 10) is an addition for the 
occasion when the ark was transferred from the tabernacle of David to 
the Temple of Solomon. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 225 

Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go 

up into my bed; 
I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids; 
Until I find out a place for the Lord, 
A tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob. 

Allusion is made to the search for the ark, its discovery 
in "the field of the wood" — -a translation of the name 
of the place from which the original procession started. 
Finally, there is an echo of the formula used at the 
stopping of the ark in its wilderness journeys: — 

Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place; 
Thou, and the ark of thy strength. 

The main ceremony of the day was thus concluded, and 
the people as a whole were dismissed with the royal 
blessing. But the king and his immediate followers 
proceeded to a lesser ceremony of inaugurating the royal 
palace. This gives the final anthem of the day, the 
hundred and first psalm. It is a song of mercy and 
judgment; vows of purity made by the king for himself, 
for his immediate circle, and for the administration of 
justice. The matter is suitable for every righteous 
ruler; but there is a special appropriateness in the final 
lines: — 

Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land ; 

To cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord. 

The expression, "The city of the Lord," occurs nowhere 
else in Scripture but in connection with this, the day of 
the city's inauguration. 

The anthems of Temple service include all the more 
elaborate ascriptions of praise to God of which the 
psalter is full. They breathe the joyous spirit of a 
sacred feast day, or express vows of thanksgiving. 



226 



BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 



They especially abound towards the end of The Book of 
Psalms, where, to a general refrain of 'Hallelujah,' 
psalm after psalm calls upon the heights and the depths, 
all orders of nature and all classes of men, with all 
instruments of music and everything that hath breath, to 
join in praising Jehovah. Perhaps the point where the 
ritual anthem most nearly resembles the original pro- 
cessionary ode is found in the hundred and eighteenth 
psalm. The occasion is clearly a vow of thanksgiving 
after recovery from sickness: the performance involves 
the Worshipper himself, a Chorus of People escorting 
him, and later on a Chorus of Priests. The Worshipper 
(or his musical representative) approaches the Temple; 
he and his escort sing alternately or together. 

Worshipper O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good : 
and Chorus. For his mercy endureth for ever. 
Let Israel now say, 

That his mercy endureth for ever. 
Let the house of Aaron now say, 

That his mercy endureth for ever. 

Let them now that fear the Lord say, 

That his mercy endureth for ever. 

Worshipper. Out of my distress I called upon the Lord : 

The Lord answered me, and set me in a large 
place. 
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear : 

What can man do unto me? 
The Lord is on my side among them that help me : 
Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that 
hate me. 

Chorus. It is better to trust in the Lord 
Than to put confidence in man. 
It is better to trust in the Lord 
Than to put confidence in princes. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 



227 



Worshipper. 

Chorus. 

Worshipper. 

Chorus. 
Worshipper. 

Chorus. 



All nations compassed me about — 

In the name of the Lord I will cut them off. 

They compassed me about; 

Yea, they compassed me about — 

In the name of the Lord I will cut them off. 

They compassed me about like bees; 
They are quenched as the fire of thorns — 

In the name of the Lord I will cut them off. 



Worshipper. Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall : 
But the Lord helped me : 
The Lord is "my strength and song; 

And he is become my salvation. 
The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents 
of the righteous, 
The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. 

Chorus. The right hand of the Lord is exalted, 

The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. 

Worshipper. I shall not die, but live, 

And declare the works of the Lord. 
The Lord hath chastened me sore : 

But he hath not given me over unto death. 
Open to me the gates of righteousness : 

I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto 
the Lord. 

At this moment the Temple gates open and disclose a 
Chorus of Priests awaiting the procession. 

Priests. This is the gate of the Lord; 

The righteous shall enter into it. 

Worshipper. I will give thanks unto thee, for thou hast answered 
me, 
And art become my salvation. 
The stone which the builders rejected 
Is become the head of the corner. 



228 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Chorus. This is the Lord's doing; 

It is marvellous in our eyes. 
This is the day which the Lord hath made; 

We will rejoice and be glad in it. 
Save now. we beseech thee, O Lord, 

O Lord, we beseech thee, send now prosperity. 

Here all enter the Temple, the Priests giving their 
benediction. 

Priests. Blessed be he that entereth in the name of the 
Lord. 
"We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. 

Chorus. The Lord is God, and he hath given us light : 

Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns 
of the altar. 

Worshipper. Thou art my God. and I will give thanks unto thee : 
Thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 

Chorus. O give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is good : 
Eor his mercy endureth for ever. 

Before passing away from the anthem it is well to 
note a group of psalms in which the animating spirit is 
not sacred ritual, but patriotic celebration: they are 
national anthems. They are however very different from 
what that term suggests in modern literature. Most 
peoples are constituted nations by circumstances of race 
or geography; Israel becomes the chosen nation by a 
providential call, and its national anthems take the form 
of historical retrospects. The earliest is the National 
Anthem of the Wilderness, the hundred and thirty-sixth 
psalm. It has the structure of primitive poetry : the 
latter half of each verse is the refrain, " For his mercy 
endureth for ever." The historv surveyed is the smiting 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 229 

of Egypt, and the deliverance of Israel with a strong 
hand and a stretched out arm; the dividing of the Red 
Sea, and the leading through the wilderness; the furthest 
point reached is the smiting of great kings, Sihon of the 
Amorites and Og of Bashan, and the inheriting of their 
land by Israel. The hundred and fifth psalm is the 
National Hymn of the Promised Land. Its unbroken 
couplets ring like the march of a conquering people. 
The main theme is the covenant made with the fathers, 
and now fulfilled : — 

Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, 

The lot of your inheritance : 
When they were but a few men in number; 

Yea, very few, and sojourners in it; 
And they went about from nation to nation, 

From one kingdom to another people. 
He suffered no man to do them Avrong; 

Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; 
" Touch not mine anointed ones, 

And do my prophets no harm." 

The wonders of Egypt and the mercies of the wilderness 
are passed in review, and the joyous conclusion is 
reached : — 

And he brought forth his people with joy, 

And his chosen with singing. 
And he gave them the lands of the nations; 

And they took the labour of the peoples in possession. 

Very different is the seventy-eighth psalm : this powerful 
lyric is the National Hymn of the Kingdom of Judah. 
The defection of northern Israel (or Ephraim) is put 
under the metaphor of armed warriors deserting on the 
very field of battle : — 



230 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, 
Turned back in the day of battle. 
They kept not the covenant of God, 
And refused to walk in his law. 

From this point the long poem follows the peculiar 
pendulum movement so characteristic of Hebrew poetry : 
the swinging backwards and forwards between two 
themes, in this case between the wonders of Divine 
energy on behalf of Israel, and the dead weight of 
human frailty which has persisted in frustrating the 
designs of God. When this unfaithfulness of Israel 
even in the promised land itself has been described, 
there is a final outburst of Divine energy in a new call, 
by which Israel is rejected, and Judah becomes the 
chosen of God. 

Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, 

Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. 

And he smote his adversaries backward : 

He put them to a perpetual reproach. 

Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph, 

And chose not the tribe of Ephraim; 

But chose the tribe of Judah, 

The mount Zion which he loved. 

The hundred and sixth psalm gives us the same general 
matter, and the same pendulum movement : but the his- 
tory is carried a stage further — it is the National Anthem 
of the Captivity. 

Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, 

And he abhorred his inheritance. 

And he gave them into the hand of the nations; 

And they that hated them ruled over them. ..." 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 231 

Save us, O Lord our God, 

And gather us from among the nations, 

To give thanks unto thy holy name, 
And to triumph in thy praise. 

These make the four national anthems of Israel. But 
it is interesting to note that the poem which in the 
psalter immediately follows the last of these is the Song 
of the Lord's Redeemed : — 

Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary, 

And gathered them out of the lands, 

From the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 

In passages already quoted in full, 1 as examples of 
rhythmic beauty, we have the captivity of Israel sug- 
gested under four images: of wanderers in the desert 
hungry and fainting, of men bound in iron and dark- 
ness, of fools brought by affliction to the gates of death, 
of men going down to the sea in ships and staggering 
amid the storm — all cry to Jehovah, and are heard 
praising him for sudden relief. With a change of 
rhythmic effect, the stanzas swell out and die down to 
picture the providence that exalts the righteous and 
depresses the sinner. The end of it all is 'wisdom ' : — 

Whoso is wise shall give heed to these things, 
And they shall consider the mercies of the Lord. 

The songs and meditations of the psalter are a treasury 
of the richest gems in lyric poetry. 2 They celebrate 
such themes as the providence of God, exhibited in the 
salvation of the individual or the nation, or in the Divine 



1 Above, page 128. 

? For illustrations and references see in the Appendix. 



232 35BLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

judgment between the righteous and wicked. They give 
expression to the spirit of trust, or consecration; to 
every aspect of the devout life. Poetry so familiar calls 
for little discussion; it seems almost invidious to make 
selection. I will, however, dwell upon one topic, which 
not only has called forth much poetry, but also has served 
as a centre around which songs have drawn together into 
a cluster — a psalter within the psalter. Immediately 
following the hundred and nineteenth psalm fifteen 
poems are found with the common heading, " A Song of 
Ascents." In modern phrase this series of poems might 
be styled, "The Pilgrim's Hymnbook." But those who 
are responsible for the arrangement of The Book of 
Psalms have, by a felicitous stroke of literary art, 
brought together two very different conceptions of pil- 
grimage. One is of pilgrimages to the sacred feasts, 
which formed so picturesque a feature of Hebrew 
religion : sacred picnics, in which pious Israelites from 
all over the holy land, whole families together, jour- 
neyed in ever increasing throngs towards their goal, 
Jerusalem. But a very different experience of Israel 
may be described by the word ' pilgrimage ' — the toil- 
some march of the delivered captives across the dreary 
desert back to their sacred country. Both these types 
of pilgrim experience are found to underlie the " Songs 
of the goings up." And if the fifteen psalms are read 
in a particular order, they will successively unfold a 
complete drama of pilgrimage in the extended sense of 
the word. 

We begin with a cry out of the depths. 1 

1 Psalm cxxx. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 233 

If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, 

Lord, who shall stand? 

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 

It is captive Israel that is thus pleading for plenteous 
redemption from all his iniquities. The attitude is that 
of waiting, looking, hoping. 

I wait for the Lord, 

My soul doth wait, 

And in his word do I hope. 

My soul looketh for the Lord, 

More than watchmen look for the morning; 

Yea, more than watchmen for the morning. 

In this darkest hour before the dawn the only solace 1 is 
the thought of Israel's past — how many a time the foes 
have afflicted him, the ploughers making long their 
furrows, yet have not finally prevailed. Or there is 
relief in an outpouring of hate for those who have turned 
backward from the nation in its humiliation; they are 
cursed with the curse of the grass upon the housetops, 
cut off from the joy of the harvest to come, and withering 
before it can grow up. Side by side with such affliction 
of the nation there is the sad experience of the individual 
exile, 2 sojourning in Meshech, dwelling among the tents 
of Kedar; all around are the "lying lips," "deceitful 
tongue,"' of the hateful foreign speech, perpetual 
reminder of exile, bitter as sharp arrows or stinging 
smoke. Like the crowds of slaves, in these lands of 
foreign tyranny, 3 obsequiously watching the slightest 
signal of some harsh master or mistress, so exiled Israel, 
with anxious strain, eyes the finger of providence for 
the first sign of mercy. And at last the mercy comes. 4 

1 Psalm cxxix. 2 Psalm cxx. 3 Psalm cxxiii. 4 Psalm cxxvi. 



234 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, 
We were like unto them that dream. 

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, 

And our tongue with singing : 
Then said they among the nations, 
The Lord hath done great things for them, 

The Lord hath done great things for us; 

Whereof we are glad. 

Laughter and tears meet in this first song of deliverance : 
we are at the standpoint of those exiles who have re- 
joiced to watch the first bands of captives setting out 
for the holy land, while they themselves must be content 
to wait for their own mercies : they have seen the seed 
time and hope for the full harvest. 

Turn again our captivity, O Lord, 
As the streams in the South. 

They that sow in tears 

Shall reap in joy. 
Though he goeth on his way weeping, 
Bearing forth the seed; 

He shall come again with joy, 

Bringing his sheaves with him. 

Then another song, 1 and deliverance is complete: — 

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers : 
The snare is broken, and we are escaped. 

At this point the one conception of pilgrimage begins 
to pass into the other: alike for those who journey across 
the desert to the holy land, and for those who travel 
along the rocky ways of Palestine towards Jerusalem, the 
supreme thought is the Divine protection by the way. 2 

1 Psalm cxxiv. 2 Psalm cxxi. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 235 

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains : 
From whence shall my help come? 
My help cometh from the Lord, 
Which made heaven and earth. 

He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : 
He that keepeth thee will not slumber. 
Behold, he that keepeth Israel 
Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 

The Lord is thy keeper : 

The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 

The sun shall not smite thee by day, 

Nor the moon by night. 

The concourse of pilgrims was made up of whole families 
blended together; we remember how the boy Jesus was 
lost from such a company, and for a whole day not 
missed. Hence it is not surprising that three hymns in 
the Pilgrim's Hymnbook are family songs. 1 One con- 
trasts the two sides of life : the life of work, that rises 
early, and takes rest late, eating the bread of toil; and 
the home life, with its quiet sleep and family growing 
up to be a strength to parents. Another celebrates 
the undistinguished lot of happy obscurity: the joy of 
eating what the labour of the hands has provided, 
the wife as a fruitful vine with children all around as 
olive plants, the patriotic sympathy with a prospering 
Jerusalem. For a third family song, the babes that are 
being carried in the arms suggest the ideal of a quiet 
soul. 

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; 
Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, 
Or in things too wonderful for me. 

1 Psalms cxxvii, cxxviii, cxxxi. 



236 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul ; 
Like a weaned child with his mother, 
My soul is with me like a weaned child. 

The point of the pilgrimage has now been reached at 
which is caught the first glimpse of the sacred city amid 
its mountain fastnesses: there is a moral suggestiveness 
in this which breaks into song. 1 

They that trust in the Lord are as mount Zion, 

Which cannot be moved, 

But abideth for ever. 
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, 

So the Lord is round about his people, 

From this time forth and for evermore. 

In another song the city has been attained. 2 

Our feet are standing within thy gates, O Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, that art builded as a city that is compact together : 
Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord. . . . 
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : 
They shall prosper that love thee. 

The concourse in one spot of pilgrims from all over the 
land gives emphasis to the unity of the nation. 3 

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is 
For brethren to dwell together in unity ! 

The link of patriotism is sweet as the fragrant ointment 
on the high priest's head; the multitudes that are joined 
in brotherhood are numerous as dewdrops — the dew of 
Hermon, and other most distant portions of the holy 
land, all descending on the hill of Zion. The pilgrims 
take their part in the sacred festivals, and we have the 
historic hymn of Temple Dedication : 4 the original wel- 

1 Psalm cxxv. 2 Psalm cxxii. 3 Psalm cxxxiii. 4 Psalm cxxxii. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 237 

come of the ark into the tabernacle of David, with an 
addition made for the inauguration of the permanent 
Temple : — 

For the Lord hath chosen Zion ; 

He hath desired it for his habitation. 

" This is my resting place for ever : 
Here will I dwell ; for I have desired it." 

There remains only the departure from the Temple : 1 the 
greeting spoken to the Night Watch as the Congrega- 
tion retires, — 

Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord, 
Which by night stand in the house of the Lord : 

Lift up your hands to the sanctuary, 
And bless ye the Lord. — 

with the answer of the Night Watch, — 

The Lord bless thee out of Zion ; 

Even he that made heaven and earth. 

These are the fifteen songs of the Pilgrim's Hymn- 
book. But outside this group is to be found the most 
famous of the psalms which are inspired by the pilgrim- 
ages to Jerusalem. 2 

How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts ! 

My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; 

My heart and my flesh cry out unto the living God. 

By a most exquisite image the singer compares himself 
to a sparrow finding herself a house, and a swallow a 
nest where she may lay her young: just as the mystic 
force of spring stirs the birds to find their nesting-places, 
so the recurrence of the sacred festivals rouses the wor- 

1 Psalm cxxxiv. 2 Psalm lxxxiv. 



238 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

shipper to a yearning after his soul's home by the altars 
of his God. Happiest they who may dwell always in 
the house of God; next happy, the devout pilgrim — the 
way to Zion runs through his heart. Like desert places 
flushed into greenness by a brief season of rain, so the 
rocky ways of Palestine are alive at the festival season 
with thronging pilgrims: they go from strength to 
strength, from one rocky eminence to another, until all 
appear before God, and sing together their pilgrims' 
hymn. A day in the sacred festivals is more than a 
thousand of worldly rejoicings. 

I have spoken of the dance as one of three sources for 
lyric poetry. A second is closely akin — the wail, or 
dirge. Originally, this is simply the particular dance 
used in funeral ceremonies; where lyric poetry in gen- 
eral is passing from spoken to written style the wail is 
retained in its earlier form by the influence of the pro- 
fessional mourners, who are called in to give expression 
to the sorrow of bereavement. The representative of 
the dirge in later literature is the elegy, which, with or 
without its peculiar 'elegiac rhythm.' is a marked type 
of lyric poetry. Among famous elegies is that of David 
over Saul and Jonathan, 1 with its plaintive refrain, — 

How are the mighty — fallen ! 

Another is the psalm 2 which is founded on the vine, as 
the national emblem of Israel, and describes this vine as 
broken down and ravaged by beasts of the field. Most 
famous of all are the series of five Lamentations over 
Fallen Jerusalem, ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah. It 

i II Samuel i. - Psalm Ixxx. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 239 

is impossible to speak here of the most remarkable 
feature of these lamentations — the intricacy of their 
rhythmic and acrostic structure — since these are but 
faintly represented in current translations of Scripture. 
In matter, these elegies make a half dramatic picture of 
desolation, with voices — of Jerusalem, of the Mourning 
People, of the Prophet who shares his city's woe — 
lengthening out a wail of misery: — 

Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by ? 

There is just a single note of hope : — 

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, be- 

cause his compassions fail not. 

They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. 

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I 

hope in him. 

There is a third source for lyric poetry. Hebrew lit- 
erature, we have seen, rests its verse system, not on 
metre or rhyme, but on the parallelism of clauses. But 
parallelism of clauses is a thing which, in all languages, 
belongs to oratory and other exalted prose. It is thus a 
peculiar distinction of Hebrew that it can make smooth 
and rapid transitions between prose and verse, and — 
since form is a reflection of spirit — between the type 
of thought which belongs to prose and the type of 
thought which is essentially poetic. When Lamech is 
suddenly conscious of the deadly power of the weapons 
he has invented, 1 when Noah is moved to curse or Isaac 
to bless his sons, 2 when Balaam at the sight of Israel 
feels a rush of prophetic inspiration 3 — in all these 

1 Genesis iv. 23. 2 Genesis ix. 25 ; xxvii. 27. 

3 Numbers xxiii. 7, etc. 



240 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

cases the prose narrative is seen to break into verse. 
Thus spontaneous elevation of discourse becomes a natu- 
ral origin of lyric poetry. In a great collection like 
The Book of Psalms it is obviously impossible to refer 
each particular poem to its ultimate source: but, speak- 
ing generally, it is safe to connect with this third class 
of lyrics the monologues of the psalter, poems in which 
a speaker is heard to offer prayer, or express penitence, 
or relate his experience. 

In this connection there arises an important question 
of interpretation. Who are the speakers in these lyric 
monologues of Scripture ? 

The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not want. 

Of whom are we to think as the 'I,' thus claiming Divine 
protection? The earlier interpretations, that took little 
note either of historic or literary discriminations, sup- 
posed David the speaker throughout almost every psalm, 
and searched the circumstances of David's life in order 
to find an historic fitting for particular poems. A reac- 
tion from this extreme has tended to discredit the idea 
of personal speakers in the psalms, and substitute the 
nationality of Israel. I would suggest that only in a 
few cases is either of these modes of interpretation 
justified. The eighteenth psalm has in its last verse the 
name of David like a signature, and the historical books 
cite this poem at length as an expression of thanks- 
giving for David's victorious career. We have seen how 
several of the songs of ascents expressly speak in the 
name of Israel. In the familiar fifty-first psalm, which 
opens with the words, — 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 241 

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving- 
kindness ; 

According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot 
out my transgressions. — 

the body of the poem is unmistakably the outpouring of 
an individual heart labouring under a sense of sin, while 
a postscript serves to generalise the whole and adapt it 
to national penitence: — 

Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion : 

Build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 
Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, 
in burnt offering and whole burnt offering : 

Then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar. 

But in the great majority of cases it is a sounder, and 
far more literary interpretation, to understand the 
speaker of a monologue as an ideal personage, and the 
circumstances pourtrayed as purely general. To take an 
example. The twenty-second psalm opens thus : — 

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? 

The question is, Who is the despairing speaker, and 
what is his trouble? If we examine the details of the 
poem with a view to particularise the circumstances we 
find conflicting suggestions. 

O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou answerest not ; 
And in the night season, and am not silent. 

This by itself would convey the idea of spiritual trouble. 

All they that see me laugh me to scorn : 

They shoot out the lip, they shake the head. 

This would fit better with some public shame. 



242 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Many bulls have compassed me : 

Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. 

They gape upon me with their mouth, 
As a ravening and a roaring lion. 

These lines, whether read literally or metaphorically, 
can only imply external foes; but the very next lines are 
equally clear in suggesting internal pain : — 

I am poured out like water, 

And all my bones are out of joint. 
My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; 
And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; 

And thou hast brought me into the dust of death. 

Immediately there is a transition to the idea of external 
foes: — 

For dogs have compassed me : 

The assembly of evil-doers have inclosed me; 

They pierced my hands and my feet : — 

back again to that of bodily suffering : — 

I may tell all my bones : 

They look and stare upon me : — 

yet again back to external foes : — 

They part my garments among them, 
And upon my vesture do they cast lots. 

If we seek to construct an historical incident out of such 
varied and conflicting suggestions interpretation must 
descend to the level of puzzle-guessing. Poetic sym- 
pathy, on the other hand, will see at once in the details 
of the psalm, not actual facts, but metaphorical repre- 
sentations of trouble in all its varied aspects: situations 
of despair are idealised in a common picture, and in 
ideal treatment salvation from on high is presented. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 243 

Devotion gains as much as poetry from this freer inter- 
pretation. The historical allusions, which so generally 
have been searched for by commentators, even if they 
could be established, would be so much limitation upon 
the wide applicability of the poem. The ideal, on the 
contrary, is realism universalised; and where the poetic 
is substituted for the historic interpretation every reader 
may become himself the hero of what he reads. 

The monologues of the psalter may be dramatic, where 
the words of a speaker present an experience as actually 
going on, and in addition a change of circumstances is 
presented within the poem itself, from trouble to deliv- 
erance. Such combination of a personal speaker with 
dramatic movement may make a brief psalm a complete 
drama in miniature. One out of many examples 1 is the 
fifty-seventh psalm. 

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; 

For my soul taketh refuge in thee : 

Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will" I take refuge, 

Until these calamities be overpast. . . . 

My soul is among lions; 

I lie among them that are set on fire, 

Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, 

And their tongue a sharp sword. . . . 

They have prepared a net for my steps; 

My soul is bowed down : 

They have digged a pit before me — 

Up to this point, it is clear, we have a picture of a suf- 
ferer in the midst of his suffering; suddenly, it appears, 
the deliverance has come, and the psalm changes wholly 
to triumph and thanksgiving : — 

1 Here (as always) examples are collected together in the Appendix. 



244 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

They have digged a pit before me — 
They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves ! 
My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. 
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises. 
Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp : 
I myself will awake right early. 

I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples : 
I will sing praises unto thee among the nations. 

An interesting example of this type is the third psalm, 
where the change of circumstances is between the de- 
pression natural to the close of a day, and the fresh 
vigour of morning; the brief lyric is a miniature drama 
in two scenes. 

Night 
Lord, how are mine adversaries increased 

Many are they that rise up against me. 
Many there be which say of my soul, 

There is no help for him in God. 
But thou, O Lord, art a shield about me; 

My glory, and the lifter up of mine head. 
I cry unto the Lord with my voice, 

And he answereth me out of his holy hill. 

Morning 
I laid me down and slept; 

I awaked; for the Lord sustaineth me. 
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people, 

That have set themselves against me round about : 
Arise, O Lord ; save me, O my God : 

For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; 

Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked. 
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord; 

Thy blessing be upon thy people. 

Or the dramatic movement may be wholly within the 
realm of the spiritual. This is the case with the hun- 
dred and thirty-ninth psalm. At the outset the singer is 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 245 

oppressed with the weight of Divine omniscience and 
omnipresence. 

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. 

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, 

Thou understandest my thought afar off. 
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, 

And art acquainted with all my ways. 
For there is not a word in my tongue, 

But, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. 
Thou hast beset me behind and before, 

And laid thine hand upon me. 

The movement of the thought begins as the speaker 
seeks to escape from this besetting Divinity — in vain: 
the presence he would elude fills alike heaven above and 
the abyss beneath; before its piercing gaze darkness and 
light are alike. The encircling providence has extended 
backward through life to the womb itself. But it is just 
here — where the climax has been attained — that the 
current of thought begins to flow back : the watchfulness 
that encircled the helpless babe seems a mercy and not 
a terror. 

I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully 
made : 

Wonderful are thy works; 

And that my soul knoweth right well. 
My frame was not hidden from thee, 

When I was made in secret, 

And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 
Thine eyes did see mine unperfect substance, 

And in thy book were all my members written, 
Which day by day were fashioned, 

When as yet there was none of them. 

The new train of feeling gathers force, until the never 



246 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

ceasing thoughtfulness of God for his creature brings 
only comfort. It gathers yet greater force in a sudden 
burst of purity. 

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God : 

Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men. . . . 

Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? 

And am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 

I hate them with perfect hatred : 
I count them mine enemies. 

The final climax is found in a reversal of the opening 
thought. 

Search me, O God, and know my heart : 

Try me, and know my thoughts : 
And see if there be any way of wickedness in me, 

And lead me in the way everlasting. 

Other psalms may be dramatic, not so much by their 
movement* as through their vivid presentation of a single 
scene. The fiftieth psalm is a Vision of Judgment. At 
the outset the whole earth, from the rising to the setting 
of the sun, has been summoned before the bar of God; 
throughout the prelude the saints are preparing for the 
desired, yet dreadful, ordeal. 

Our God cometh, and ihall not keep silence : 

A fire devoureth before him, 

And it is very tempestuous round about him. 

The body of the poem is made up of the addresses of 
Jehovah, exactly symmetrical in structure, to the right- 
eous and the wicked thus gathered before him, exalting 
the thoughts of the one to a higher conception of wor- 
ship, refusing from the wicked a homage divorced from 
right living. The double thought is gathered up in the 
concluding couplet : — 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 247 

Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; 
And to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the 
salvation of God. 

There is one peculiar type of lyric poem in The Book 
of Psalms which seems to combine the lyric monologue 
with the anthem previously described. The twenty- 
seventh psalm, at its outset, is a celebration of provi- 
dential mercies in the manner of a ritual anthem; later 
on — as one mode of emphasising the theme — there is 
dramatic presentation of the trouble and deliverance 
which is calling forth the song of thanksgiving. Thus 
the opening lines of the poem are crowded with images 
of Divine succour in moments of dire extremity. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation : 

Whom shall I fear? 
The Lord is the strength of my life ; 

Of whom shall I be afraid? 
When evil-doers came upon me 

To eat up my flesh, 
Even mine adversaries and my foes, 

They stumbled and fell. 
Though an host should encamp against me, 

My heart shall not fear : 
Though war should rise against me, 

Even then will I be confident. 

This portion of the psalm finds a climax in aspiration 
after a life-long abode in the house of God, as a pavilion 
of security and a scene of joyous worship. In the very 
next line the speaker is heard pleading for succour as if 
from the depths of woe. 

Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice : 
Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 
" Seek ye my face — " 



248 BIBLICAL POETRY AXD PROSE 

My heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 

Hide not thy face from me; 

Put not thy servant away in anger. 

All this is no more than the dramatisation of the trouble, 
salvation from which has just been celebrated : how T dra- 
matic the treatment is may be seen in the sudden return 
to the tone of rejoicing at the conclusion of the psalm. 

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord 

in the land of the living. 
Wait on the Lord : be strong, and let thine heart take courage; 
Yea, wait thou on the Lord. 

In this way a dramatic monologue has been made a part 
of a ritual anthem. 

Before closing this chapter it is proper to speak of a 
considerable poem outside The Book of Psalms. This 
is The So Jig of Songs, commonly known as Solo mo n" 1 s 
Song. The literary description of this poem is lyric 
idyl. 1 The term 'idyl ' has been appropriated to what, 
in poetic tradition, have been considered the 'trifles ' of 
life — love and domestic scenes, as distinguished from 
war and heroic deeds. Thus The Book of Ruth is a story 
idyl. In the present case the story is not narrated, as in 
Ruth, nor is it presented continuously, as in a drama; 
but different parts of the story appear before us in dis- 
connected meditations, each meditation having for the 
most part the form of dramatic dialogue. Told con- 

1 The view here followed is not the usual interpretation. The poem 
is generally interpreted as a drama, and the resulting story is quite 
different. The question is fully discussed in my Literary Study of the 
Bible, Chapter VIII, or in the Biblical Idyls volume of The Modern 
Reader's Bible. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 249 

nectedly, the story underlying The Song of Songs would 
stand thus. King Solomon with his court are visiting 
the royal vineyards upon Mount Lebanon, and come by 
surprise upon a fair Shulainmite maiden, sister of the 
keepers of the vineyard. The maiden is embarrassed 
and flees. Solomon, smitten with her beauty, woos her 
in the disguise of a simple shepherd, and wins her love. 
He then appears in his royal state, and invites her to 
become his queen. The two are married in the royal 
palace. In the order of the poem itself the successive 
idyls commence with the wedding, go back in time to 
the courtship, and then go forward to what, in modern 
phrase, we may call the close of the honeymoon. 

The first of the seven idyls presents The Wedding 
Day. The procession is approaching the palace : Solo- 
mon leads the Bride, who is followed by a Chorus of 
Daughters of Jerusalem — in modern phrase, the Brides- 
maids. 

The Bride. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth : 

For thy love is better than wine. 
Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; 
Thy name is as ointment poured forth : 

Therefore do the virgins love thee. 

A pause is made for the central point of the wedding 
ceremony, the lifting of the Bride over the threshold. 

The Bride (to the Bridegroom). Draw me — 

The Bridesmaids. We will run after thee — 

The Bride. The king hath brought me into his chambers — 

The Bridesmaids. We will be glad and rejoice in thee, 

We will make mention of tby love more than 
of wine. 
The Bride. In uprightness do they love thee. 



250 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The scene changes to the inside of the palace. The 
Bride, as a sunburnt beauty from the country, apologises 
for her rustic appearance to the paler city girls. 

Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, 

Because the sun hath scorched me. 
My mother's sons were incensed against me, 
They made me keeper of the vineyards, 
But mine own vineyard have I not kept ! 

Next follow whisperings between Bride and Bridegroom 
— reminiscences of the fond puzzle of that wooing, 
when she would seek to penetrate the mystery of the 
shepherd lover, and he would put aside her questions 
with explanations that explained nothing. 

She. Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, 
Where thou feedest thy flock, 
Where thou makest it to rest at noon : 
For why should I be as one that wandereth 
Beside the flocks of thy companions ? 

He. If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, 
Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, 
And feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents. 

The rest of the first idyl follows the procession from 
banquet hall to bridal chamber, with its exchanges of 
endearing speeches. 

She. I am a rose of Sharon [i.e. of the lowly plain], 

A lily of the valleys. 
He. As a lily among thorns, 

So is my love among the daughters. 
She. As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, 

So is my beloved among the sons. 

When the chamber has been reached the close of the 
first idyl is marked by one of the Refrains, such as are 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 251 

repeated at all the dividing points of the poem. These 
passages are not spoken by the parties to the story, but 
are conventional verses, used in all poetry of this type, 
like instrumental symphonies between the verses of a 
song, just to divide and to keep up the amatory spirit 
of the whole poem. The refrain in this first case is the 
conventional cry to leave lovers to their repose. 

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, 
By the roes, and by the hinds of the field, 

That ye stir not up, nor awaken love, 
Until it please. 

The second idyl is made up of the Bride's reminis- 
cences of the courtship : how her lover came to her 
rustic home, and his sweet voice was heard amid the 
sweetness of the Spring scene. 

" For, lo, the winter is past, 
The rain is over and gone; 
The flowers appear on the earth; 

The time of the singing of birds is come, 

And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." 

Suddenly rough voices jarred upon this sweetness — her 
brothers crying that the foxes had broken into the 
vineyard, — 

"Take us the foxes, 
The little foxes that spoil the vineyards; 
For our vineyards are in blossom." 

Another reminiscence is that of a happy dream. 

By night, on my bed, I sought him whom my soul loveth : 

I sought him, but I found him not. 
I said, I will rise now, and go about the city, 

In the streets and in the broad ways, 



252 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

1 will seek him whom my soul loveth : 

I sought him, but I found him not. 
The watchmen that go about the city found me : 

To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 
It was but a little that I passed from them, 

When I found him whom my soul loveth : 

I held him, and would not let him go, 
L"ntil I had brought him into my mother's house, 

And into the chamber of her that conceived me. 

As a dividing point between these two reminiscences 
another conventional refrain has been used. 

My beloved is mine, and I am his : 

He feedeth his flock among the lilies. 
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, 
Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart 

Upon the mountains of separation. 

The third idyl brings before us the Day of Betrothal, 
when Solomon, who had wooed as a humble shepherd, 
goes as a king to claim his love for his queen. 

"Who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness 

Like pillars of smoke, 
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, 

With all powders of the merchant? 
Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; 

Threescore mighty men are about it, 
Of the mighty men of Israel. 

They all handle the sword, and are expert in war : 
Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, 

Because of fear in the night. 

After further elaborate lyric picturing of the royal pro- 
cession the idyl becomes dramatic dialogue; here the 
actual proposal of marriage is reached, veiled in 
symbolic language. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 253 

Solomon. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride . . . 
A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; 
A spring shut up, 
A fountain sealed. . . . 
The Shulammite. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south : 
Blow upon my garden, 
That the spices thereof may flow out. 
Let my beloved come into his garden, 
And eat his precious fruits. 

The fourth idyl is a troubled dream of the Bride, con- 
trasting with the happy dream of the second song. Her 
lover has come in the same manner to her home, but by 

night. 

" Open to me, 

My sister, my love, 
My dove, my undefined : 
For my head is filled with dew, 

My locks with the drops of the night." 

While the Shulammite (in her dream) was pausing a 
moment to array herself, and dip % her fingers in the 
myrrh, the lover was gone. She wanders out in vain to 
find him; again she meets the watchmen, but they smite 
her and take away her veil. With the beautiful confu- 
sion of dream movement she finds herself accosting the 
Bridesmaids of the first song. 

The Bride. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, 
If ye find my beloved, 
That ye tell him, that I am sick of love. 
The Bridesmaids. What is thy beloved more than another 
beloved, 
O thou fairest among women, 
What is thy beloved more than another 
beloved, 
That thou dost so adjure us ? 



254 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

As she answers the challenge, and extols her lover's per- 
fections, the whole spirit of the dream changes, and the 
fourth idyl ends with the happy refrain : — 

I am my beloved's, 

And my beloved is mine : 

He feedeth his flock among the lilies. 

In the fifth idyl we have the king meditating on his 
Bride. For the most part it is a passionate catalogue of 
bodily charms. But at one point the song glides into 
a reminiscence of that which is the foundation of the 
whole story — the first meeting of the lovers in the vine- 
yards of Lebanon. A few lines convey the surprise of 
king and courtiers at the vision of stately beauty so 
unexpectedly facing them under the apple trees. 

Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, 
Fair as the moon, pure as the sun, 
Terrible as an army with banners ? 

As if it were a dialogue of reminiscences, the Shulam- 
mite's side of the mutual surprise finds expression. 

I went down into the garden of nuts, 
To see the green plants of the valley, 

To see whether the vine budded, 

And the pomegranates were in flower. 

Or ever I was aware, my soul set me 

Among the chariots of my princely people. 

As the maiden fled (the king remembers) the court 
broke into a murmur of remonstrance. 

Return, return, O Shulammite ; 

Return, return, that we may look upon thee. 

The Shulammite' s embarrassment under this gaze 
follows. 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 255 

Why will ye look upon the Shulammite ; 
As upon the dance of Mahanaim ? 

Such was the first shock of love, now developed into the 
raptures of married life, with which the fifth song is 
filled. 

The last two idyls carry us forward in time. The 
Bride, wearied of a royal palace, has a longing to renew 
the mutual love in the very spot where first it was 
pledged. Accordingly, we have another journeying 
through the wilderness — not now a royal cortege, but 
the Bride on the arm of her beloved — and a renewal of 
the meeting in the vineyard of Lebanon, the old home 
of the Shulammite. 

Solomon. Under the apple tree I awakened thee : 

There thy mother was in travail with thee, 
There was she in travail that brought thee forth. 

The Bride. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, 
As a seal upon thine arm : 
For love is strong as death; 
Jealousy is cruel as the grave. 

Such prattle as lovers use follows. Especially pretty is 
the conceit with which the Bride expresses once more 
the surrender of her heart, a conceit founded on the 
circumstance that her husband is (in modern phrase) 
the ' landlord ' of this home of herself and her brothers. 

Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon ; 
He let out the vineyard unto keepers ; 
Everyone for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand 
pieces of silver. 

My vineyard, which is mine, is before me : 
Thou, O Solomon, shalt have the thousand, 
And those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred. 



256 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

In other words, Solomon is the owner of her heart : the 
people of this her home have been but temporary ten- 
ants. Sounds are heard of the escort approaching, and 
with a final embrace the poem concludes. 

A modern reader of Solomon's Song is apt to feel some 
surprise at the warmth of the amatory language in which 
the poem abounds, and the way in which, apparently 
without reserve, the two lovers dwell upon each other's 
bodily charms. No doubt the East is more passionate 
than the sober West. But, in part, this first impression 
of the poem is due to a literary difference between Eng- 
lish and Oriental : the use in the poetry of the East of 
symbolism. Imagery paints pictures that appeal to the 
imagination; in symbolic poetry the meaning is con- 
veyed without any details on which the imagination can r 
work. Notwithstanding the descriptions in The Song of 
Songs we do not know what the lovers were like. In one 
line the hero's locks are pronounced to be of most fine 
gold, in the next, we read of locks bushy and black as a 
raven. The heroine's eyes are exalted by being com- 
pared to pools in Heshbon, her nose to the tower of 
Lebanon. Everything is conventionally expressed : 
maidenhood is a garden shut up, chastity is a wall; the 
lover bending over his bride is a 'banner of love ' waving 
over her; she does not clasp him to her bosom, but bids 
him sport on the 'mountains of separation.' Symbolism 
is literary reserve : and in this particular poetic style 
it is most fitting to give expression to nuptial love. 
Undoubtedly the poem, as here interpreted, is a cele- 
bration of pure conjugal love — the purer, since it is 
conjugal love triumphing over the established pleasures 
of the harem, — 



LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 257 

There are threescore queens, 

And fourscore concubines, 

And virgins without number: 
My dove, my undefiled, is but one. 

Hence, in its secondary interpretation, Solomon's Song 
has been traditionally understood in a spiritual sense, 
as when Isaiah celebrates Zion as Jehovah's Bride, or 
Revelation describes the Bride of the Lamb. And in its 
natural literary interpretation The Song of Songs is the 
great honeymoon poem of universal literature. 



CHAPTER VIII 

PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 

We pass to the important portion of Holy Scripture 
which is covered by the general title of Prophecy. At 
the outset a difficulty arises from a common misunder- 
standing as to the meaning of the word. In modern 
English to prophesy is to predict : and a large number 
of Bible readers come to Scriptural prophecy with the 
idea that they are reading the literature of prediction. 
There is no such notion in the word as properly under- 
stood. The pro- of prophecy is not the pro- that means 
'beforehand ' (as in programme), but the pro- that means 
'instead of' (as in pronoun') : a 'prophet' is one who 
speaks in place of another — an interpreter. The bibli- 
cal sense of the term is well seen in a passage of Exodus 
(vii. i). Moses has been shrinking from the task im- 
posed on him by God on the ground of being a man of 
slow and difficult speech; the reply is made: — 

See, I have made thee [Moses] a god to Pharaoh : and 
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 

As Aaron is thus a speaker in place of Moses, putting 
into formal speech the thoughts of his leader, so the 
prophets are interpreters for God. If ever they are 
found to predict, the prediction is an accident, not the 
essence of the prophecy. 

To obtain a fuller conception of the term we must go, 

2;S 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 259 

not only to etymology, but to history. We have already 
seen how the prophetic function came into prominence 
at a particular crisis in the history of Israel. Origi- 
nally, Israel was a theocracy, knowing no government 
but the will of God, as interpreted by Moses or Joshua. 
In time it came to be governed by secular monarchs : at 
once the prophetic order established itself to represent 
the older idea of the theocracy. Occasionally, as with 
Isaiah and Hezekiah, it would happen that the prophet 
and the king were on the same side : the prophets were 
then religious statesmen — statesmen of a people with 
whom State and Church were one. More often the 
prophets were in opposition to the secular government; 
they were not the counsellors who guided, but the agi- 
tators who roused to resistance. The whole activity of 
such prophets constitutes 'prophecy'; hence the books 
of the prophets are found, at times to record the general 
history of the period, at times to deal with the prophet's 
secret intercourse with God, or public encounters with 
kings. Or they treasure up the proverb-like sayings — 
technically, 'sentences' — by which leading ideas of 
these theocratic statesmen were brought home to the 
common people. Large parts of these prophetic books 
are rightly described as discourses. But even here we 
must avoid the misleading analogy of modern sermons. 
Nothing can be more incongruous than to imagine an 
Isaiah or a Jeremiah standing with a neatly written 
manuscript before a devout and attentive audience^ The 
discourses of the prophetic books represent the substance 
of spoken utterance; very often, it would appear, the 
spirit of a whole series of encounters between a prophet 
and his people or king has been worked up afresh into 



260 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

the form of written literature, to make a single one of 
the discourses as they have come down to us. 

Yet another consideration must be borne in mind 
before our conception of prophetic literature is com- 
plete. What has been said so far covers the whole func- 
tion of earlier prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha. But 
in later history the prophets have become men of letters; 
their works not only represent public utterances, but 
include written compositions designed for a reading 
public. The prophets of Israel are poets, in the full 
sense of the term. They interpret the Divine message 
in the form of songs and lyric outpourings. They make 
contributions to creative literature : just as a Milton will 
convey his conception of the plan of salvation in the 
form of imaginative stories — of a Paradise Lost and a 
Paradise Regained — so the prophets of the Bible will use 
visions and imaginative dramas, as a vehicle in which they 
bring home to man's highest faculties the providential 
mysteries with which they feel themselves inspired. 

It will thus be evident that prophecy is not a literary 
form, like epic or drama, but a branch of sacred litera- 
ture; in which the most varied forms mingle, from the 
proverbial sentence, or straightforward discourse, to the 
spiritual song or drama. What binds all kinds of pro- 
phetic literature together into a unity is the fact that the 
prophets are not speaking their own thoughts, but are 
interpreting for God. The message is Divine; the form 
in which the message is conveyed is free to range over 
the whole field of literary expression. 

It remains to speak of certain literary forms which are 
almost peculiar to prophecy,, and at the same time unfa- 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 261 

miliar to modern readers. One of these, the emblem 
prophecy, although used by several of the sacred writers, 
is yet so specially characteristic of Ezekiel, that it will 
be reserved until The Book of Ezekiel can be treated as 
a whole. Two others will be more conveniently dis- 
cussed in the present chapter. 

The doom songs, as a branch of prophecy, correspond 
in some sort to the satires and philippics of other litera- 
tures. The political life of Israel includes, of course, 
foreign policy — the relations of the chosen nation 
with neighbouring peoples, especially with the power- 
ful empires of Egypt and Babylon, from one of which 
Israel had emerged as an independent nation, and into 
the other of which it was to be absorbed as a captive 
people. The messages of prophecy extend to these 
foreign nations as well as to Israel, but with a difference. 
It could seldom happen that a prophet would have — 
like Jonah — an opportunity of speaking directly to 
some distant nation, in the way in which these sacred 
statesmen regularly addressed their own people. It is to 
readers and hearers in Israel that the doom prophecies 
are addressed; and they take the form of denunciations 
of external races or cities as enemies of Israel and 
Jehovah, combined with realistic pictures of coming 
destruction. 

As an example, we may take the Doom of Nineveh, 
which occupies the whole Book of Nahum. The 
prophecy opens in the form of discourse, and is here 
cast in the pendulum style that alternates between ideas 
of judgment and of mercy. We hear of Jehovah as 
great in power, one who will by no means clear the 
guilty; who hath his way in the whirlwind and in the 



262 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet : none can 
stand before his indignation. Immediately we read of 
the same Jehovah as good, a stronghold in the day of 
trouble, who knoweth them that put their trust in him. 
Again, Jehovah is presented indignantly dispensing 
judgment to his adversaries, so that affliction shall not 
rise up the second time. The alternation extends to 
successive sentences. 

Though I have afflicted thee [Jsrael], I will afflict thee no 
more. And now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will 
burst thy bonds in sunder. — And the Lord hath given com- 
mandment concerning thee [Nineveh] that no more" of thy 
name be sown. 

Suddenly there are seen upon the mountains the feet of 
one that brings good tidings : with this link the prophecy 
passes from discourse into realistic vision, and the over- 
throw of Nineveh is being presented. 

He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face : 
Keep the munition ; watch the way. 

The excitement of defence is vividly pictured : red shields 
of the valiant, chariots flashing with steel, the terror of 
shaken spears, chariots jostling against one another in 
the broad ways, with zigzag flamings of bright axles. 
But in vain. As their leader proudly remembers his 
worthies these are seen to stumble. There is hastening 
to man the walls, and meanwhile the river has proved a 
gate to the enemy; the strong city seeming to dissolve 
as the inhabitants are thus snatched into captivity, the 
handmaids mourning like doves and tabering upon their 
breasts. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 263 

But Nineveh hath been from of old like a pool of water ; 

Yet they flee away : 
" Stand, stand " — 

But none looketh back. 

Take ye the spoil of silver, 

Take the spoil of gold ; 
For there is none end of the store, 

The glory of all pleasant furniture. 

She is empty, and void, and waste : 

And the heart melteth, and the knees smite together ; 
And anguish is in all loins; 

And the faces of them all are waxed pale. 

As this elaborate prophecy continues there is a mo- 
mentary recurrence to Divine denunciation, and this is 
followed by a lyric picture of the denounced city in its 
sinful pomp : a bloody city, full of lies and rapine. 

The noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of wheels ; 
And pransing horses, and jumping chariots ; 
The horseman mounting, and the flashing sword, and the glitter- 
ing spear ; 

And a multitude of slain, and a great heap of carcases : 
And there is none end of the corpses ; 
They stumble upon their corpses. 

But the indignation of Jehovah sounds forth, and at once 
there is matter for the taunt songs of Nineveh's foes. Is 
she better than No-amon, ramparted by the sea, with 
Ethiopia and Egypt for strengtheners, Put and Lubim 
as helpers? Yet was she carried into captivity ! A 
similar destruction is seen for Nineveh: fortresses fall- 
ing like shaken figs into the mouth of the eater; war- 
riors turning women; gates opened to the foe and bars 
devoured by fire; fastnesses, laboriously built and busily 
stored, all made vain by sword and fire; population 



264 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

numerous as cankerworms, like cankerworms spreading 
wings and flying away; crowned heads and proud mar- 
shals, like swarms of grasshoppers in the chill hedges, 
vanishing as the grasshoppers vanish when the sun is 
risen. The final note of the prophecy is the peace that 
is made by solitude — the solitude of utter destruction. 

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, 

Thy worthies are at rest : 
Thy people are scattered upon the mountains, 

And there is none to gather them. 

Similarly, the whole Book of Obadiah is a doom 
prophecy directed against Edom. Assyria, Tyre, and 
Zidon, Philistia, Damascus, Moab, Amnion, Ethiopia, 
are all subjects for prophetic attack. 1 The most elabo- 
rate of these sacred philippics are reserved for the 
imperial foes, Babylon and Egypt. Isaiah pictures 2 
how, as Babylon falls, the whole nether world is moved 
to meet him : — 

Art thou also become weak as we ? 

Art thou become like unto us ? . . 
How art thou fallen from heaven, 

Day Star, son of the morning ! 
How art thou cut down to the ground, 

Which didst lay low the nations ! 
And thou saidst in thine heart, ' I will ascend into heaven, 

1 will exalt my throne above the stars of God ; 
And I will sit upon the mount of congregation, 

In the uttermost parts of the north : 
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds ; 

I will be like the Most High.' 
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, 

To the uttermost parts of the pit. 

1 For a list of doom prophecies, see in the Appendix. 
- Chapters xiii-xiv. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 265 

With even greater elaborateness Jeremiah 1 hurls against 
Babylon a sevenfold denunciation, the central section 
of which gathers itself into a sevenfold image of doom. 
The sword is to smite, the drought is upon the waters, 
the destroying wind shall fan, foes shall fill the city like 
cankerworms. Babylon has been Jehovah's battle-axe, 
to be broken in pieces itself now its work is done; the 
destroying mountain shall be a burnt-out volcano, deso- 
late forever; Babylon is the threshing-floor at the sea- 
son of treading. In Ezekielis found a sevenfold doom 
of Egypt, 2 powerful in its seven images and elaborated 
details. In Isaiah, 2, by an almost unique effect, the 
doom of Egypt ends in a note of restoration. 

In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with 
Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth : for that the Lord 
of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my 
people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine 
inheritance. 

The doom prophecies have contributed a notable 
image to sacred literature. This is the image of the 
watchman. 4 Prophecy seems to take its stand on the 
eastern boundary of the holy land, with the prophetic 
watchman yet further advanced, peering, not into the 
darkness of the night, but into the dimness of the wil- 
derness over which (as from Babylon and Assyria) hosts 
of destruction must pass. 

Voice out of Seir 
Watchman, what of the night ? 
Watchman, what of the night ? 

1 Chapters 1-li. 3 Chapter xix. 

2 Chapters xxix-xxxii. i Especially, Isaiah xxi-xxii. 



266 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The Watchman 
The morning cometh, 

And also the night : 
If ye will enquire, enquire ye ; 

Come ye again. 

This is the ordinary formula of the night watchman to 
convey that all is well. But the response is different 
when the time of Babylon's doom has arrived. At first 
through the prophetic night nothing but voices are heard, 
striking terror and raising mystic anticipations. 

" Go up, O Elam ; 
Besiege, O Media 
All the sighing thereof will I make to cease." 

The hearer pants with terror, dismay dims hearing and 
vision. "The twilight that I desired hath been turned 
into trembling unto me " : in other words, the day [of 
judgment] so much longed for has come, and is too 
terrible to contemplate. 

" They prepare the table, 

They spread the carpets, 

They eat, they drink ; 
Rise up, ye princes, anoint the shield." 

It is again the Divine voice heard cheering on the 
destroyers to their task. At last sight is added to sound. 

The Watchman 
O Lord, I stand continually upon the watch-tower in the 
day-time, 
And am set in my ward whole nights : 
And, behold, here cometh a troop of men, 
Horsemen in pairs. 

The Divine voice interprets that Babylon is fallen, the 
graven images of her gods broken to the ground. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 267 

The other special form of prophetic literature which 
has yet to be described is one for which there is no 
generally accepted name; it will here be called the 
'rhapsody. ' In modern art perhaps the nearest approach 
to it is the oratorio, or sacred cantata. The general 
effect is that the workings of Divine providence are 
brought home to our minds in the form of dramatic 
movement. But-it is spiritual drama. The stage com- 
prehends all space; the changing scenery is conveyed 
by vision or description. The personages of such a 
drama may include God himself; the Divine address to 
any personage or people makes these at once a part of 
the scene; vague voices and cries help to carry on the 
dialogue, or the prophet himself may be one of the 
speakers in the vision which he is seeing. Like 
the chorales in Bach's oratorios, lyric outbursts at 
intervals comment upon the action. All forms of lit- 
erature, even narrative description, may be used to 
carry on what nevertheless, as a whole, is felt to be 
drama. 

Perhaps the simplest example is the Rhapsody of the 
Chaldeans, which occupies the whole Book of Habakkuk. 
The first of its three acts, or visions, is dialogue between 
God and the Prophet. The Prophet complains of vio- 
lence in the world going unpunished, how the law is 
slacked, and judgment perverted. This is the answer 
that comes : — 

God. — Behold ye among the nations, and regard, and won- 
der marvellously : for I work a work in your days, which ye 
will not believe though it be told you. For, lo, I raise up the 
Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation; which march through 
the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not 



268 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

theirs. They are terrible and dreadful : their judgement and 
their dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are 
swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening 
wolves ; and their horsemen bear themselves proudly : yea, 
their horsemen come from far ; they fly as an eagle that hasteth 
to devour. They come all of them for violence ; their faces 
are set eagerly as the east wind : and they gather captives as 
the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a derision 
unto him : he derideth every strong hold ; for he heapeth up 
dust, and taketh it. Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and 
shall pass over, and be guilty; even he whose might is his god. 

This brilliant description seems strange in the mouth of 
Deity : it reads like an exaltation of godless might over 
right. It is just this feeling that the Prophet proceeds 
to express. 

Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy 
One ? thou diest not. O Lord, thou hast ordained him for 
judgement ; and thou, O Rock, hast established him for correc- 
tion. Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and that 
canst not look on perverseness, wherefore lookest thou upon 
them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the 
wicked svvalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he ? 

A perplexity ©f Divine providence has thus been fully 
opened : how can a righteous God use as his instrument 
of judgment a power more evil than the evil which is 
judged and destroyed? 

The solution of this mystery makes the second act. 
The Divine answer is hidden under one of the powerful 
■images of prophecy, which it is so easy to miss. The 
image is that of intoxication: the Chaldean's soul is 
puffed up, he cannot go straight. All the haughty march 
of this prosperity-intoxicated empire is no more than 
the drunkard's reeling that goes before his fall. At 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 269 

once is heard the taunt-song of Chaldea's victims, 
rejoicing in the overthrow of their oppressor. Chal- 
dea's aggrandisement has been a living upon borrowed 
money: they are at hand who shall exact usury. The 
tyrant has been building high: but he has built his own 
shame into the structure, and now it is finished the stone 
cries shame out of the wall, and the beam out of the 
timber answers it. The Chaldean has trusted to idols 
of gold and silver: but Jehovah is the teacher of the 
nations, let all the earth sit in silence at his feet. Thus, 
the prophetic revelation is that Chaldean godlessness is 
but allowed to do the righteous work of Jehovah; 
doomed to perish, when the work is done, with a ruin 
vaster than it has inflicted. 

But so far the judgment on the Chaldean oppressor is 
only foreseen in the future : the third act of the rhap- 
sody makes judgment a present reality. It is a magnifi- 
cent ode. In the prelude, and again in the postlude, 
we have the feelings of the prophetic watchman. The 
body of the ode realises all nature in convulsion. The 
day of judgment rises in the east: flashing rays of dawn 
mark the fingers of the avenging hand. As the day 
gathers strength, pestilence, fiery bolts, earthquake are 
ushering heralds; mountains flee, nations to the confines 
of civilisation are in affliction, the very sun and moon 
stand still in their habitations, and the deep utters voice 
and lifts up hands on high. 

Is the "Lord displeased against the rivers ? 
Is thine anger against the rivers, or thy wrath against the 
sea ? . . . 

Thou art come for the salvation of thy people, 
For the salvation of thine anointed. 



270 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

The day of doom sets over the western sea, with surging 
of mighty waters. The Prophet is left trembling with 
the terrors of the very visitation for which he had 
prayed; but it is terror which passes into surer confidence. 

For though the fig tree shall not blossom. 
Neither shall fruit be in the vines ; 
The labour of the olive shall fail, 
And the fields shall yield no meat ; 
The flock shall be cut off from the fold, 
And there shall be no herd in the stalls : 
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

A perplexing question of Divine providence has been 
opened in dialogue, solved with the aid of lyric song, 
and the solution has been carried forward in the full 
elaboration of an ode. This union of varied literary 
forms in a single dramatic movement makes a typical 
example of the rhapsody. 

The Book of Joel gives us a more extended example 
— the Rhapsody of the Locust Plague. Here, again, 
the theme is the Divine judgments, but in a different 
sense: we have first a judgment upon Israel that serves 
to reform and purify, then judgment between Israel and 
the nations that have oppressed her. The movement 
falls into seven successive acts, or visions. The first 
presents the land of Israel mourning in desolation : old 
men, revellers, priests, husbandmen, are in their turn 
heard bewailing the ravaged land, and draw together into 
a general assembly of the whole people, crying that the 
Day of the Lord is at hand. With the second vision 
the panic intensifies: the day of doom has actually 
broken in clouds and darkness. Under the concealed 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 271 

image of a locust plague, mystic foes are presented as 
approaching: an irresistible march in which, mysteri- 
ously, no ranks are broken, and none swerves out of his 
place. The advancing hosts are upon the city: then, 
with the third stage of the movement, comes a surprise, 
and a voice of mercy. 

The Lord. — Yet even now turn ye unto me with all your 
heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning : 
and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the 
Lord your God: for he is gracious and full of compassion, 
slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy, and repenteth him of 
the evil. 

The People. — Who knoweth whether he will not turn and 
repent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering 
and a drink offering unto the Lord your God ? 

This first stirring of repentance grows into a solemn 
assembly of the whole people, from old men to children, 
the bridegroom going forth out of his chamber and the 
bride out of her closet, all joining in a prayer for mercy. 
Accordingly, with the fourth act it is said : — 

Then was the Lord jealous for his land, and had pity on his 
people. 

As the promises of the Lord are heard, the land seems 
to recover from its desolation: the northern army is 
driven away, the pastures of the wilderness spring 
beneath the former and the latter rain, the floors are 
full of wheat, and the fats overflow with wine and oil. 
We pass to a further stage: for Israel a spiritual out- 
pouring upon all, until the sons and daughters prophesy, 
young men see visions, and old men dream dreams; for 
the enemies of Israel a heralding of doom in darkened 
sun and bloodstained moon, with wonders in heaven and 



272 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

earth. The sixth stage is an advance to the Valley of 
the Lord's Decision: the voice of Jehovah is heard 
cheering his hosts to the harvest that is already ripe. 
There is a vision of multitudes and multitudes in the 
Valley of Decision : then all resolves into darkness and 
roaring, until the seventh and final vision displays a 
holy region and a scene of eternal peace, mountains 
dropping sweet wine, and hills flowing with milk. 

This rhapsody has illustrated a form of poetic move- 
ment which is important for its bearing upon interpre- 
tation. This may be compared to the figure of an arch : 
the successive stages of the movement advance to a crisis 
which is in the centre of the poem, not at the close; then 
they reverse their direction, so that each of the last three 
stages corresponds to one of the first three. The follow- 
ing figure will convey the idea : — 

4. Relief and Restoration, 
ii. 18-27. 
3. At the last moment 5. Afterward : Israel spirit- 
Repentance, ualised — the Nations 
ii. 12-17. summoned to judgment, 
ii. 28-iii. 8. 

2. Judgment visibly 6. Advance to the Valley 

Advancing : Crisis, of Decision : Crisis, 

ii. i-ii. iii. 9-16. 

1. The Land of Israel 7. The Holy Mountain and 

desolate and mourning, Eternal Peace, 

i. iii. 17-21. 

It thus appears that the central and determining section 
of the whole movement is the fourth, where the idea of 
relief and restoration is introduced. On the two sides of 
this we have repentance and, to balance it, a higher 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 273 

spiritualisation. The second stage is the crisis of 
advance in the judgment on Israel; the corresponding 
sixth section is the advance to a crisis in the judgment 
on the nations. The opening picture of desolation is 
reversed in the final scene of holiness and peace. 

The term 'rhapsody ' will cover a great variety of lit- 
erary compositions. Thus, what is otherwise a simple 
prophetic discourse may be diversified by occasional 
realistic passages. Zephaniah is a fine example. At 
the outset the Lord is uttering words of denunciation : — 

I will utterly consume all things from off the face of the 
ground, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast ; I 
will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, 
and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked ; and I will cut off 
man from off the face of the ground, saith the Lord. 

At once lyric song is heard : — 

Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God : 

For the Day of the Lord is at hand : 
For the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, 

He hath sanctified his guests ! 

The Divine threatenings continue : He will search Jeru- 
salem with candles, and will punish the men that are 
settled on their lees, that say in their heart, The Lord 
will not do good, neither will he do evil. Again the 
lyrics interrupt : — 

The great Day of the Lord is near : 

It is near and hasteth greatly ! 
Even the voice of the Day of the Lord ; 

The mighty man crieth there bitterly. 

That Day is a day of wrath, 

A day of trouble and distress, 
A day of wasteness and desolation, 

A day of darkness and gloominess, 



274 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

A day of clouds and thick darkness, 

A day of the trumpet and alarm, 
Against the fenced cities, 

And against the high battlements. 

Throughout the whole Book of Zephaniah this alternation 
is kept up, between continuous discourse of Divine 
judgment, and outbursts of lyrics which interrupt, in 
order to celebrate and comment upon what the denun- 
ciatory discourse has brought forward. 1 

At the furthest remove from such rhapsodic discourse 
stands what is the most elaborate and complex illustra- 
tion of this kind of literature — the Rhapsody of Zion 
Redeemed, covering the last twenty-six chapters of our 
Book of Isaiah} Not only in its literary form, but also 
in its range of thought this work is nothing less than 
stupendous. Its starting-point is a definite historic 
event — the deliverance of Israel from Babylonish cap- 
tivity by the conquering career of Cyrus : from this the 
field of view widens to present the whole scheme of 
Divine providence, in its dealings with the chosen 
nation, and through this chosen nation with all the 
world. 

There is a prelude 3 which — precisely like the prelude 
of a modern musical drama — lyrically foreshadows what 
is to be worked out in detail by the seven visions that 
follow. The keynote is a word of comfort from the 
mouth of Jehovah. 

1 This alternation of Divine monologue and interrupting lyrics may 
be called doom foryn, from its frequent use in prophecies of that type. 

2 It is presented in its full literary structure in the Isaiah volume of 
The Modern Reader's Bible. In the ordinary version the dialogue and 
other features of literary form are difficult to catch. 

3 Chapter xl. i-ii. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 275 

Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak 
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare 
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. 

In response, voices are heard to carry the glad tidings 
across the desert to Jerusalem in her humiliation. 

A Voice of One Crying 
Prepare ye in the wilderness the way of the Lord, 

Make straight in the desert a high way for our God. 
Every valley shall be exalted, 

And every mountain and hill shall be made low^ 
And the crooked shall be made straight, 

And the rough places plain : 
And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, 

And all flesh shall see it together. 

This part of the prelude is in touch with the first vision, 
and its climax in the return of the exiles across the 
desert to their home. But the voice of glad tidings 
encounters a voice of despair, and we have an anticipa- 
tion of the dialogue with Desponding Zion in the second 

vision. 

Voice of the Tidings 
Cry! 

A Despairing Voice 

What shall I cry? 
All flesh is grass, 
And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field : 

The grass withereth, 

The flower fadeth, 

Because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it : 
Surely the people is grass ! 

Voice of the Tidings 
The grass withereth, 
The flower fadeth : 
But the word of our God shall stand for ever. 



276 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

A voice is heard now further ::. its way to Jerusalem,. 
and we are carried to the point where, in the fourth 

vision, the messengers will be seen on the mountains. 

O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, 

Get thee up into the high mountain; 
O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, 

lift up thy voice with strength; 
Lift it up, be not afraid; 

Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God ! 

Yet another voice is heard in this prelude; and it seems 
to epitomise the alternation between judgment and sal- 
vation with which the whole rhapsody is to conclude. 

Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, 
And his arm shall rule for him : 
Behold his reward is with him, 
And his recompence before him. 

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, 

He shall gather the lambs in his arm, 

And carry them in his bosom, 

And shall gently lead those that give suck. 

The dramatic movement itself opens with the first of 
the seven visions, which has for its theme Jehovah's 
Servant delivered from Bondage. This has already been 
discussed, by way of epilogue to the history of Israel. 1 
The conception is of a whole world summoned before 
the bar of Jehovah; the peoples come from the furthest 
isles, the worshippers of idols in panic, Israel supported 
by journeying mercies of its God. Jehovah makes 
challenge to the idol peoples to put a meaning on the 
course of events, that shall connect the end with the 
beginning. When the idols are dumb and helpless, 

1 Above, pages 82-8. It covers Isaiah xL 12-xlviii. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 277 

Jehovah's own interpretation of history is made known: 
how that Israel is his Servant, and his service is to bring 
light to the Gentiles; how that Israel has been blind to 
his mission, and has fallen, for his sins, into the prison 
houses of the nations; how that the time of redemption 
has come, and Cyrus is Jehovah's instrument, a con- 
quered world being the price paid for the deliverance of 
the Lord's people; how that Israel comes forth from the 
imprisoning peoples, not only free, but awakened to his 
mission — a blind people that hath eyes, a deaf people 
that hath ears. All this is brought out in the speeches 
of Jehovah, as alternately he addresses his Servant Israel 
and the assembled nations; at times outbursts of lyric 
verse serve as interrupting Amens; or the taunt-song is 
heard over cruel Babylon deprived of her prey; or, 
finally, there is the celebration of the people of the Lord 
delivered and led across the desert, where waters flow 
from the rock to quench their thirsU 

The second vision 1 presents the Servant of Jehovah 
awakened to his mission — the salvation not of the 
tribes of Israel only, but also of the Gentiles. He 
exercises his double ministry. Glorious words are 
spoken of the exiles brought in safety over the desert. 
In dialogue with Desponding Zion the Servant of Jeho- 
vah declares how a woman may forget her sucking 
child, but Zion cannot be forgotten by Jehovah. The 
fearers of Jehovah among the nations are encouraged. 
But at this point there seems a change in the conception 
of this 'Servant of Jehovah.' Before this the term has 
been applied unmistakably to the nation of Israel. Now 

1 Isaiah xlix-1. 



278 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

nationality seems to gather itself into a personality, 
that not only can succour others, but also suffer martyr- 
dom itself : — 

I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that 
plucked off the hair : I hid not my face from shame and 
spitting. 

The chosen people appear under two different names 
in this drama: the name 'Israel ' seems to describe the 
presence of the people, diffused (it may be) over the 
world; 'Zion,' on the other hand, is the name for 
the organised nation, with the holy land as its base. 
As the second vision gave us Jehovah's Servant awak- 
ened, so the third 1 is devoted to the Awakening of Zion. 
Jehovah makes appeal to his people from their glorious 
past, and from the future of glory he is reserving for 
them. But from Zion there is no response. The 
Celestial Chorus seems to encourage Jehovah, recalling 
old deliverances and a Red Sea dried up. Again Jeho- 
vah makes appeal; again there is silence. The Celes- 
tial Chorus addresses Zion, crying to awake, and stand 
up from her fall and staggering. In vain. Yet again 
the Celestial Chorus makes appeal : — 

Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion ; 

Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. 

At last the awakening begins. Beautiful upon the 
mountains are seen the feet of the messengers. The 
Watchmen of Jerusalem have caught the sight, and sing 
together the good tidings. Now the waste places of 
Jerusalem sing together, for they have caught Jehovah's 
word of comfort. Now the arm of the Lord is made 

1 Isaiah li-lii. 12. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 279 

bare, and all the ends of the earth see the salvation of 
Zion. 

We have reached the fourth and central section x of 
the rhapsody, and it is full of the exaltation of Jehovah's 
Servant: to the astonishment of the nations that had 
despised his marred visage and form unlike the sons of 
men. But who is the Servant of Jehovah thus exalted ? 
We have seen that originally the term denotes the nation 
of Israel; that at the close of the second vision the 
nation seemed to change into a suffering personality. 
With the stage of exaltation the Servant of Jehovah 
appears a mystic personality, whose sufferings are vicari- 
ous. The rest of this fourth vision is spoken by the 
Chorus of Nations, whose astonishment serves to present 
the sufferings of Jehovah's Servant as the redemption of 
the peoples. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, 
And carried our sorrows : 

Yet we did esteem him stricken, 

Smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, 
He was bruised for our iniquities : 

The chastisement of our peace was upon him; 

And with his stripes we are healed. 

From the Servant of Jehovah awakened we passed to 
the awakening of Zion; from the Servant of Jehovah 
exalted we pass naturally, in the fifth vision, 2 to Zion 
Exalted. We hear the song of Zion as the Bride of 

Jehovah : — 

For thy Maker is thine husband ; 
The Lord of hosts is his name. 

1 Isaiah lii. 13-liii. 2 Isaiah liv-lv. 



280 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

Another song celebrates Zion as the city of beauty and 
peace, once afflicted and tempest-tossed. The third 
presents Zion as witness to the nations; by appointment 
of Jehovah she summons them to forsake evil and enter 
into an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of 
David. The vision ends with a procession of redeemed 
nations amid a world transformed into rejoicing. 

We have reached the point where the rhapsody 
becomes most difficult of interpretation, and its trend 
of thought furthest removed from the spirit of modern 
literature. The acts of a modern drama are necessarily 
successive in time. In a spiritual drama, where repre- 
sentation to the eye is impossible, the connection of 
parts may be logical, and not temporal. The five visions 
so far reviewed make a unity, in which Divine provi- 
dence has been represented in its historical aspect : the 
choice of a nation through which all other nations are 
to be blessed; the fall of this Israel from its mission into 
captivity; the deliverance of Israel from bondage; its 
awakening; its exaltation; finally, the redemption of 
all peoples through the vicarious sufferings of the mys- 
tic Servant of Jehovah. From this historical aspect of 
providence we now pass to the ideas of redemption and 
judgment in the abstract, and the term 'Servant of Jeho- 
vah ' disappears. Israel is still the subject of what is 
presented. But the introduction 1 to the sixth vision 
makes it clear that we are to understand an Israel not 
limited by nation or race : the stranger and outcasts are 
gathered in to the people who are to see the righteous- 
ness of God; his house is a house of prayer for all 
nations. 

i Chapter lvi. 1-8. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 281 

Each of the two visions presents the whole work of 
providence, but under different aspects: and the sixth 
vision 1 is a drama of redemption. It opens with a 
picture of moral chaos, a vineyard trodden by all beasts 
of the field, guarded by dumb dogs that love to slumber; 
or, if God is served, it is by formalists, who wonder 
that their service brings no blessing. In this chaos the 
spirit of prophecy is seen at work : denouncing corrup- 
tion, proclaiming mercy, raising the formalists to a 
more spiritual idea of worship. 

Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to 
afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to 
spread sackcloth and ashes under him? ... Is not this the 
fast that I have chosen : to loose the bonds of wickedness, to 
undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free? 

Gradually Israel rouses to repentance : and the turning- 
point is reached as Jehovah looks, and wonders that 
there is no intercessor: therefore his own arm brings 
salvation. As a rushing river which the breath of the 
Lord driveth, so a Redeemer comes to Zion. At once 
the rhapsody breaks into the song of Zion Redeemed. 

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, 

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 

There is lyric picturing of nations coming to share this 
light; of exiles hastening home by land and sea; through 
the opened gates the wealth of nations is borne to beau- 
tify the sanctuary; Zion's walls are salvation, her gates 
praise; her sun shall go down no more. The- song sub- 
sides into a soliloquy of the Redeemer : — 

1 Isaiah lvi-lxii. 



282 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE. 

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me';- because the Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; 
he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim 
liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them 
that are bound. 

The Redeemer is heard in dialogue with Zion, now no 
longer despondent; he cries to the Watchmen, as the 
Lord's remembrancers, to give their God no rest till he 
make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. The vision con- 
cludes with the song of the Watchmen, making straight 
the path to Zion for the redeemed hastening from the 
ends of the earth. . 

The seventh vision 1 passes i to the idea of judgment, 
the separation between good and evil. Once more the 
image of the prophetic watchman is employed, to intro- 
duce a vision of judgment. 

Chorus of Watchmen 
Who is this that cometh from Edom, 

With crimsoned garments from Bozrah? 

This that is glorious in his apparel, 
Marching in the greatness of his strength ? 

He who Cometh 

I that speak in righteousness, 
Mighty to save. 

Chorus of Watchmen 

Wherefore art thou red 

In thine apparel, 

And thy garments 
Like him that treadeth in the winefat? 

1 From Chapter Ixiii. 



PROPHECY AS A BRANCH OF LITERATURE 283 

He who Cometh 
I have trodden the winepress alone; 
And of the peoples there was no man with me : 

Yea, I trod them in mine anger, 

And trampled them in my fury; 

And their lifeblood is sprinkled upon my garments, 

And I have stained all my raiment. 

This is no more than the foreshadowing: for the actual 
judgment preparation is made by repentance. The 
whole history of God's gracious dealings with Israel, 
and Israel's unfaithfulness and fall, is gathered into one 
survey, with passionate prayer that God would rend the 
heavens, that the mountains might flow down at his 
presence! At last Jehovah descends in judgment: the 
last strain of the rhapsody is the pendulum-like alterna- 
tion between judgment and salvation. The rebellious 
find their iniquities recompensed into their own bosom : 
a seed out of Jacob shall inherit the blessed mountains. 
They that prepare a table for Fortune, and pour wine to 
Destiny, shall find themselves destined to the fortune of 
the sword; all the while in a new heaven and a new 
earth Jerusalem shall forget her troubles. There are 
confused cries of tumult from the city, Jehovah recom- 
pensing his foes; Zion cannot understand her deliver- 
ance, for before she hath travailed she hath brought 
forth. All nations and tongues shall gather to the feasts 
upon the holy mountain of Jerusalem; a land encom- 
passed with eternal purifying forces — the worm that 
dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched. 

In the literature of the whole world there is nothing 
which can be paralleled with this rhapsody of Zion 
Redeemed. Its foundation thought is a philosophy of 



284 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

history, the events of all time becoming one in the light 
of a Divine purpose. Centuries before the most en- 
lightened minds could grasp it, the rhapsody presents 
the idea of spiritual conquest: in place of empire 
founded on force, it holds up to its hero nation the 
mission of bringing light to the Gentiles. It enthrones 
the supreme moral conception of redemption, and sur- 
rounds this with attractive images. It offers the stimu- 
lating ideal of a golden age in the future and not in the 
past; yet for attaining such ideal it recognises as an 
essential condition the stern judgment that forever 
separates evil from good. And these colossally great 
conceptions are not shadowed forth in philosophical 
speculation, they are made alive with dramatic setting 
and movement: but it is a drama that is enacted in the 
region of the spiritual, with God for its leading person- 
age, and providence for its plot. 



CHAPTER IX 

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 

The prophetic books of the Old Testament are sixteen 
in number. Of these, however, five — standing in the 
names of Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah 
— consist each of a single literary composition. They 
have been sufficiently treated in the preceding chapter. 
The rest are miscellaneous collections of works in poetry 
and prose. 1 

The title page to The Book of Isaiah stands thus: The 
Vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw con- 
cerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, 
Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. As The 
Book of Isaiah has come down to us, its latter half 
is occupied with the rhapsody of Zion Redeemed — 
fully described in the preceding chapter — the author- 
ship of which is one of the problems of literary history. 
Apart from this, the contents of the book agree with 
the title in presenting the life-work of a prophet 
statesman. The Call of the Prophet dates itself "in 
the year that King Uzziah died." At the other end, 
the last section is prophetic history, recording the min- 
istry of Isaiah under Hezekiah. One of the interven- 
ing sections relates in set terms to a crisis in the reign 
of Ahaz. As regards the rest, although commentators 

1 For References, and divisions of books, see in the Appendix. 
285 



286 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

labour to read the utterances of Isaiah into their exact 
historic setting, I would rather suggest that the language 
is general and not particular; that we have, not exact 
reports of actual discourses, but the more enduring 
thoughts suggested by various stages of a life-long min- 
istry worked up afresh into permanent literary form, 
with a significance widened from the original circum- 
stances, an applicability that is universal. 

By common consent, Isaiah is one of the world's 
greatest writers : the whole range of literary expression 
— finished oratory, lyric song, imaginative drama- 
tisation — is handled with the ease of a great master. 
If we attempt to sum up the general spirit of the whole, 
Isaiah may be termed a man of a single idea, and this 
idea is the dominant note of all Hebrew prophecy : the 
presentation of a glorious future for God's people, but 
a future which is to be reached only through a purg- 
ing judgment, that shall leave only a remnant to be 
saved. 

The first section opens with a general arraignment of 
Israel : the whole head is sick, the heart faint, there is 
no soundness, but only wounds, bruises, and festering 
sores. Yet this is to lead to the opposite tone : — 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord : 
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

A more elaborate discourse follows : to the glory of the 
Lord's mountain, established at the head of the moun- 
tains, the way lies through a judgment, in which the 
haughtiness of man hides itself in caves and holes from 
the terror of Jehovah. There follow a parable of a 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 287 

chosen vineyard bringing forth wild grapes, and a song 
of sevenfold woe. At last the prophet describes the 
vision that called him to his ministry. In the midst of 
the overpowering splendour of the Divine presence 
Isaiah feels himself a man of unclean lips, dwelling in 
the midst of a people of unclean lips; when his lips 
have been cleansed by a coal from the altar, he receives 
a commission to a prophetic work that shall only serve 
to intensify the rebellion of the rebellious, until the 
saved remnant is left as no more than the stock of a 
felled tree. 

The second division of the prophecies of Isaiah is 
devoted to a strange moment of national history, when 
Judah found itself confronted by an unnatural alliance, 
between the brother kingdom of Israel and the common 
enemy, Syria. The panic of King Ahaz and his courtiers 
is met by Isaiah with a series of brave hopes, utterances 
bound together by the 'sign' (or text) of 'Immanuel.' 
The allied enemies are in a mood of such scornful con- 
fidence that a newborn child among them will be named 
with the proud name, God-with-us (Immanuel). 1 But 
(Isaiah declares) before that child shall be old enough 
to discern good from evil he shall be eating famine 
food, and the land shall be forsaken of both the allied 
kings. The prophet foresees the vast power in the dis- 
tance, in comparison with which the alliance between 
Israel and Syria is a trifle : Assyrian conquest shall come 
in like a flood, not sparing even Judah, but filling the 

1 I am varying from the usual interpretation of this sign, Immanuel. 
The question is fully discussed in the Isaiah volume of The Modem 
Reader's Bible, pages 223-230 ; or in my Literary Study of the Bible, 
page 378 note. 



288 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

breadth of the land that is boasting its 'God-with-us.' 
Yet again Isaiah challenges the allied foes : — 
Take counsel together, 

And it shall be brought to nought ; 
Speak the word, 

And it shall not stand : 
For God is with us. 

The boasting word of the enemy has been caught up, in 
a true sense, for Judah. And — after a lyric contrast of 
the hopes of the foes and the actual triumph of Judah 
— the changed application of 'Immanuel ' is enlarged 
to a still more glorious consummation. 

For unto us a child is born, 
Unto us a son is given; 

And the government shall be upon his shoulder : 
And his name shall be called, Wonderful Counsellor, 
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, 

Prince of Peace. 

The third section is a picture of Assyrian invasion — 
an idealised picture of Assyrian invasion in general. 
At its crisis it is confounded by the power of Jehovah. 
The contrasting picture is unfolded : the stock of Jesse 
shooting out afresh, becoming an ensign around which 
the nations flock; the scene is a holy mountain, where 
the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard lie 
down with the kid; all enmity of peoples at an end, 
there shall be heard only songs of rejoicing around the 
wells of salvation. 

The fourth section contains the doom songs over 
foreign peoples. It closes with a grand rhapsody of 
judgment, the whole universe dissolving under the visi- 
tation of Jehovah, cries of the saved and the lost alter- 
nating amid the chaos and gloom; at the centre and 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 289 

climax of the vision the veil is rent, and the scene 
reveals itself as a holy mountain for the saved, around 
which are scattered the downtrodden enemies of Israel 
and of Jehovah. 

There remains the fifth section, in which the constant 
theme of Isaiah is applied to a political situation, which 
is, however, chronic and general rather than particular 
— a tendency to seek refuge in some other direction, 
rather than in submission to the judgment of God. The 
rulers of the nation have a 'refuge of lies'; they have 
made a ' covenant with death,' that he shall pass them 
by in the universal catastrophe. In some discourses 
trust in Egypt is the interpretation put upon these gen- 
eral terms. Prophetic scorn sweeps away all these false 
hopes; the destroying judgment is insisted upon, but 
beyond is unfolded the glorious restoration. Two ideal 
pictures crown this series of prophecies. There is a 
rhapsody of salvation : a salvation coming at the eleventh 
hour, while the "sinners in Zion " — those who have 
been resting on these false hopes — tremble before the 
"everlasting burnings" that come to cleanse the holy 
city. Once more, there is presented an utter destruc- 
tion, under which the heavens are rolled up as a scroll, 
and the smoke of the doomed lands goes up forever; 
but in contrast we have the wilderness blossoming as a 
rose, glowing sands changed to refreshing pools of water, 
and a highway of holiness over which the ransomed of 
the Lord return with singing to Zion, with everlasting 
joy upon their heads. 

The Book of Jeremiah may be called a prophetic 
autobiography. It must not be assumed, of course, 



290 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

that its discourses and poems stand in the exact order 
of the events to which they refer; but the broad di- 
visions of the book agree with stages in the writer's 
career. Moreover, Jeremiah, to a greater extent than 
other prophets, tells his secret intercourse with God, 
and his personal contact with rulers or the people; his 
matter is not general, but connected with specified 
names and incidents. Thus, to read the whole is to 
get a vivid picture of the life of Jeremiah, and of the 
times in which he played so large a part. 

The central interest is the personality of the prophet 
himself. Jeremiah's lot was cast at a time when north- 
ern Israel had already fallen, and Judah was in her last 
decline. What appeared of independence was delusive; 
corruption had left to the nation no freedom except a 
choice of masters. A courtly aristocracy was looking 
in the direction of luxurious Egypt; the earnest portion 
of the nation fought against subservience to Egypt as 
the worst of all evils. A prophet is naturally in oppo- 
sition, but Jeremiah had the unpopular mission of hold- 
ing up to his people subjugation by Babylon as their 
brightest hope : this was to be the judgment beyond 
which lay moral restoration. No wonder then that for 
his whole career he was "the weeping prophet." 

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of 
strife and a man of contention to the whole earth ! 

But stronger than the opposition from without was the 
sacred impulse from within. 

If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more 
in his name, then there is in mine heart as it were a burning 
fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and 
I cannot contain. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 291 

Thus, in the phrase of the Divine commission which 
is repeated at the close of his principal compositions, 
Jeremiah is a brazen wall, a pillar and fortress to his 
people; they will fight against him, but they will not 
prevail. 

The first part of the book contains poems and dis- 
courses, without anything to suggest that the prophet is 
having any success in his ministry, or any recognition 
among the men of his time. Following the narrative 
of Jeremiah's call we have what may be termed the 
prophet's manifesto — an embodiment of his message in 
all its fulness. It is a lengthy discourse, pleading with 
Judah on God's behalf; this at a particular point 
becomes an elaborate rhapsodic scene, the forbearance 
of Deity gradually yielding, while the avenging foe is 
permitted to approach by stages, vividly pourtrayed in 
rumours and signs of panic, until the end is seen in 
a people too late mourning in sackcloth and ashes. 
Shorter discourses and pictures Of panic follow. At 
one point Jeremiah appears as a missionary, commis- 
sioned to preach throughout the cities of Judah "the 
covenant" — the new religious movement born out of 
the discovery of Deuteronomy in Josiah's reign. In 
this part of the work is found the most considerable of 
Jeremiah's poems — the Rhapsody of the Drought: its 
scene, a desolated Judaea; its dramatic movement, an 
intercessory struggle, in which Jehovah, who at first will 
not so much as speak to the repentant People except 
through the Prophet, is finally won to mercy. 

At last a turning-point is found in the career of Jere- 
miah, and in a moment he becomes a leader of his 
people. This seems to be brought about by a single 



292 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

discourse — nay, by a single metaphor. The preacher 
has caught a lesson from the work of the potter. 

And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in 
the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as 
seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the 
Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with 
you as this potter? 

The familiarity of this image in modern discourse must 
not make us insensible to the excitement that would 
attend this historic use of it. The whole trouble of 
Israel lay in a false confidence that its position as 
Jehovah's chosen people was unassailable; when the 
reminder came that the Divine potter might refashion 
his clay into a vessel of dishonour, the national con- 
science quivered. At once the faithful rallied around 
Jeremiah : attended by elders of -the people and of the 
priests he led a grand public demonstration, in which 
the symbol of the potter's bottle was carried to the val- 
ley of destruction. On his return he was arrested : this 
was the first stroke in the long conflict of kings, rulers, 
priests, people, around Jeremiah as a supreme prophet. 
The life of Jeremiah henceforward is the history of 
Jerusalem in her fall. 

The mass of prophecies following this point do not 
make a succession in time. Besides the dooms on 
foreign peoples, which are gathered together as a final 
section, there seem to be groupings of discourses under 
such heads as messages to kings, controversial prophe- 
cies, and the like. Nevertheless, the general impression 
of the whole is a chronicle of the last days of Jerusalem; 
and more and more, as we read on, prophecy becomes 
history. When the city has fallen, the career of Jere- 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 293 

miah comes to the strangest of conclusions : the prophet 
who all his life has inveighed against Egypt is carried 
forcibly into Egypt by fugitives from Judah; he must in 
this hated land continue his ministry of rebuke to his 
fellow-captives, and is met by a stubbornness that puts 
down all the nation's woes to Jeremiah's counsels. But 
if this was the end of the prophet's acts, it was not the 
goal of his hopes. A section of his book is devoted to 
prophecies of the restoration, and all his powers of vivid 
expression are employed to depict a glorious future for 
a spiritualised Israel. 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a 
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of 
Judah : . . . I will put my law in their inward parts, and in 
their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they 
shall be my people. 

With The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel we pass into a 
different region of literature. Ezekiel among the 
prophets makes the nearest approach to the modern 
conception of a spiritual pastor. In part this arises 
from the circumstances of the case; while Jeremiah is 
plunged in the political turmoil of Jerusalem, Ezekiel 
is ministering to a band of his countrymen who have 
already been carried into captivity beside the river 
Chebar. Again, in the commission given to the prophet 
we can see the changed character of his prophetic office. 
A stupendous vision of Divine glory accompanies the 
call of Ezekiel. The vision appears three times, and 
there are three distinct phases in the charge which is 
imposed. With the first vision Ezekiel is commanded 
to testify through the representative band of exiles to 
the nation at large : here his function is that of Isaiah 



294 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

or Jeremiah. A second outburst of vision establishes 
Ezekiel as the watchman of the captivity; he is made 
responsible for the souls of those around him, and their 
blood will be upon his head if the}- die in their sins 
and he has failed to speak his warning. But the vision 
comes yet a third time. 

Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet; 
and he spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself 
within thine house. But thou, son of man, behold, they shall 
lay bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou 
shalt not go out among them : and I will make thy tongue 
cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and 
shalt not be to them a reprover, for they are a rebellious house. 
But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou 
shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. 1 

It will be remembered how the prophets of Israel were 
accustomed to move about among the people in their 
public life, bringing home to them in each crisis some 
application of Divine truth. Ezekiel is expressly for- 
bidden to do this; he is not to go to the people, but the 
people are to come to him. In the book that follows, 
Ezekiel is never seen in public; on the other hand, there 
is evidence of a daily custom that the elders appear in the 
prophet's house, waiting till the hand of God shall fall 
upon him. Even when his hearers are present, Ezekiel 
is to remain dumb until the prophetic impulse unlocks 
his speech. Thus what Hie Book of Ezekiel gives us is a 
picture of daily devotional meetings, and of prophecies 
poured forth at the moment of their inspiration. 2 

1 Ezekiel iii. 24-27. 

2 This is not the usual interpretation of the ' dumbness ' of Ezekiel. 
The reasons for my view are fully discussed in the Ezekiel volume of 
The Modern Reader s Bible, pages 187-190. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 295 

But if the general character of his work approaches 
the modern pastorate, the mode of Ezekiel's preaching 
is removed to the furthest degree from the modern ser- 
mon. Ezekiel is the great representative of emblem 
prophecy. We are accustomed to the idea of sermons 
upon texts; but our texts are quotations from Scripture. 
In emblem prophecy the text is some visible thing, or 
some external action, used by way of object lesson; the 
discourse works out in detail the symbolism and makes 
application. Such symbolic prophecy we have already 
seen in such a case as the procession of Jeremiah, 
which carried aloft a potter's bottle, and solemnly broke 
it to pieces in the valley of destruction; the symbolic 
action so described is the text, the comments accom- 
panying this action make the sermon. These emblem 
prophecies formed the staple of Ezekiel's ministry. The 
discourses as they stand in The Book of Ezekiel must be 
read as records; they indicate an emblem and its appli- 
cation. Sometimes the application is expanded at 
length and with eloquence; in other cases a line or two 
indicates the spiritual application made of the visible 
symbol, while we are left to imagine the actual discourse 
spoken by the prophet to his audience of fellow-captives. 

A simple illustration is the following : — 

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of 
man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with 
trembling and with carefulness ; and say unto the people of 
the land, Thus saith the Lord God concerning the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel : They shall eat their bread 
with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that 
her land may be desolate from all that is therein. 1 

1 Ezekiel xii. 17. 



296 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

It is easy to imagine the preacher briefly going through 
the form of eating and drinking after the fashion of 
those who are panic-stricken with horrors of siege and 
famine, and then enlarging into a discourse — here left 
to our imagination — upon the coming overthrow of 
the sacred city. 

The simplest act or gesture may serve as emblem text : 
the smiting of the hands, or stamping of the feet, or the 
setting the face in the direction of the doomed land. 
Or the emblem may be the reiteration of a cry, such as 
" It cometh ! It cometh ! " Ezekiel loves to use a 
parable for text : here the emblem is narrated instead of 
being visibly acted, yet still is objective in its effect. 
It is easy to see how the idea of emblem may be extended 
to include a vision — seen by the prophet, but narrated 
to the audience : in these cases it is an important prin- 
ciple of interpretation that the vision is no more than 
the emblematic text; the truth conveyed must be looked 
for in the application. 

At times, however, the symbolic discourse of Ezekiel 
reaches the highest degree of elaborateness; we have a 
unique type of literature, needing careful study for its 
correct interpretation. I will take two widely different 
illustrations. 

Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before 
thee, and pourtray upon it a city, even Jerusalem : and lay 
siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mount 
against it; set camps also against it, and plant battering rams 
against it round about. And take thou unto thee an iron pan, 
and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city : and set 
thy face toward it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay 
siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. 

Moreover, lie thou upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 297 

the house of Israel upon it : according to the number of the 
days that thou shalt lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity. 
For I have appointed the years of their iniquity to be unto 
thee a number of days, even three hundred and ninety days : 
so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And 
again, when thou hast accomplished these, thou shalt lie on 
thy right side, and shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah : 
forty days, each day for a year, have I appointed it unto thee. 
. . . And, behold, I lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not 
turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast accomplished 
the days of thy siege. 1 

Neglect of the foundation principle of emblem prophecy 
— that the emblem is the text only, and not the prophecy 
itself — has led to strange misinterpretation of the pas- 
sage just quoted; it has been supposed that Ezekiel was 
commanded to lie on his side for more than a year by 
way of prophetic testimony. The simple meaning is 
that, for the period indicated, the text of the daily ser- 
mon would be taken from some portion of the mimic 
besieging so described; a few moments of dumb show 
would be sufficient, and then symbolic action would give 
place to spoken discourse. Thirteen verses 2 contain the 
sketch of matter which, in actual delivery, the prophet 
would expand and vary through some hundreds of daily 
discourses. 

There is elaborateness of a different kind where, in 
place of a text followed by its application, we have 
symbolic text and interpreting discourse interwoven 
through the whole of a lengthy prophecy. The great 
example is the Prophecy of the Sword : 3 here attitude, 
gesture, visible emblem, sustained dumb show, are all 
mingled, and combined with song. Now the prophet 

1 Chapter iv. 2 Chapter v. 5-17. 3 Ezekiel, Chapter xxi. 



29S BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

is personating the threatening war, now he sighs and 
trembles with the panic of the expectant city ; now the 
point of the sword is used to trace on the ground the 
route of the conqueror, suddenly it is turned against 
the enemies of Judah in the midst of their gloating 
triumph. Intermingling with the prose of prophetic 
discourse we can trace, in snatches, the Folk-song of the 
Sword, its lines gathering length as the passion works up. 

A sword, 

A sword, 
It is sharpened, 

And also furbished : 

It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; 

It is furbished that it may be as lightning ! 
And it is given to be furbished that it may be handled : 

The sword it is sharpened, yea it is furbished, to give 
it into the hand of the slayer ! 

And let the sword be doubled the third time : 

The sword of the deadly wounded : 

It is the sword of the great one that is deadly wounded 
Which compasseth them about. 

I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, 

That their heart may melt, 

And their stumblings be multiplied : 
Ah ! it is made as lightning ! 

It is pointed for slaughter — 

Gather thee together, go to the right; 

Set thyself in array, go to the left — 
Whithersoever thy face is set. 

It seems to be a law of style in Ezekiel's writing that 
where visible emblems are not used, a substitute is found 
in sustained imagery. The doom prophecies against 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 299 

foreign nations — which from the nature of the case 
could not be spoken in the presence of those against 
whom they are directed — are made impressive as litera- 
ture by the way in which a single image will be expanded 
through a whole discourse, until it comes to have the 
objective force of a visible picture. Thus the denuncia- 
tion of the greatest of maritime cities appears as the 
Wreck of the Good Ship Tyre; l we have all the peoples 
of the world joining in the building and loading of the 
mighty ship, until it becomes a thing of glory in the 
seas — only to suffer shipwreck, to the panic and distress 
of all mariners and merchant princes. 

The contents of The Book of Ezekiel may be variously 
analysed, according as we lay more stress upon form or 
upon matter. If we divide on the basis of the distinct 
emblem discourses, we may recognise seven books, each 
of which, except the fourth, contains seven emblem 
prophecies. The fourth and central section is made up 
of a single discourse; but this displays the whole range 
of Ezekiel's doctrine: it is a prophetic manifesto. If 
we turn our attention to the subject-matter, a simpler 
arrangement will suggest itself. Alike with Jeremiah 
and Ezekiel, the main obstacle encountered was the 
obstinate confidence of the demoralised people in the 
impregnable security of Jerusalem; the main work of 
the prophets was to undermine this confidence, and 
rouse to hopes of restoration through moral reform. 
From this point of view The Book of Ezekiel falls into 
three natural divisions. The doom prophecies are 
gathered together into one section, and this divides the 

1 Chapter xxvii, 



300 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

earlier prophecies, which all insist upon the fall of Jeru- 
salem, from the last, which proclaim a glorious restora- 
tion. The first and third sections are bound together 
by two companion visions of Jerusalem. Among the 
early discourses we have the Vision of Jerusalem in her 
Pollutions. The whole book ends with the Vision of 
Jerusalem in her Glory, prophetic counterpart to the 
Pattern on the Mount as seen by the founder of the 
Law, — an elaborated ideal of a perfect city, perfect 
Temple service, and perfectly organised land. 

Ezekiel occupies a unique place in literary history, 
the one great master of a highly specialised and now 
obsolete literary type. As Isaiah among the prophets 
was the great poet, Jeremiah the great preacher and 
statesman, so Ezekiel was the great artist. The highest 
histrionic power is implied in a dumb show and gesture 
that could associate itself with oratorical literature in its 
most severe beauty. It is therefore not surprising that, 
in the impression made on the very people to whom 
Ezekiel ministered, there was a danger of the form 
becoming more attractive than the message it adorned. 

Son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the 
walls and in the doors of the houses, . . . saying, Come, 1 
pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the 
Lord. . . . And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song 
of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an in- 
strument : for they hear thy words, but they do them not. 1 

To this artist-preacher was committed a ministry which, 
through nearly its whole course, was a ministry of rebuke 
and despair. And for this contrast between spirit and 
form we are prepared from the first moment of the 

1 Ezekiel xxxiii. 30. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 301 

prophet's call. In the midst of the overpowering vision 
a roll of a book is spread before Ezekiel : it is written 
within and without, with lamentations, and mourning, 
and woe. " The prophet in his vision eats this book of 
woe : and it is in his mouth as honey for sweetness. 1 

The Book of Daniel falls into two very different parts. 
First, we have in succession six stories of the captivity, 
recording the adventures of Daniel and his fellow- 
exiles in Babylon : how they rose to posts of the highest 
authority in the empire, and how by their life and wis- 
dom they were able to vindicate the supremacy of 
Jehovah over all other gods. What follows belongs to 
apocalyptic or vision prophecy: a series of mystic 
visions and their interpretations. However full of 
difficulties these visions may be to the theological 
interpreter, considered as a work of literature the book 
needs no further discussion. 

Hosea, in the title page to his book of prophecy, is 
represented as a contemporary of Isaiah; he ministered 
mainly to the northern kingdom of Israel. The period 
is one of material prosperity and deep-seated moral cor- 
ruption, an immediate prelude to the kingdom's final 
fall. From the literary side two points are notable in 
regard to The Book of Hosea. This writer, more than 
any other, makes use of the prophetic 'sentence '; long 
strings of such sentences occupy the centre of the book, 2 
as disconnected as the contents of The Book of Proverbs. 
On the other hand, we have, at the opening and close, 
two elaborate compositions, masterpieces of prophetic 

1 Ezekiel ii. 8-iii. 3. 2 E.g. ix. 7-x. 



302 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

imagination; and these give emphasis to what is the 
foremost conception of Hosea — the passionate love of 
Jehovah for his rebellious people. 

The first of these is the emblem prophecy of Gomer; 
unless indeed — as many commentators think — we are 
to understand the prophet as narrating actual facts, and 
not weaving a parable. 1 Hosea represents himself (in 
fact or metaphor) as united by command of God with 
a wife, Gomer, who is unfaithful; his struggles to bring 
her to repentance are reminders of God's ways with 
Israel, and the children of this unhappy union are 
named so as to symbolise successive stages of divorce 
from God. At the close of the book another prophecy 
uses another human bond to convey God's relations with 
his people. In this rhapsody, The Yearning of God, 2 
the image is that of a father, justly incensed, distracted 
between indignation and tenderness. The literary treat- 
ment is striking: the effect of dialogue is produced by 
alternating monologue, between opposite moods in the 
Divine breast. 

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my 
son out of Egypt. — 

As they called them, so they went from them : they sacri- 
ficed unto the Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. — 

Yet I taught Ephraim to go; I took them on my arms; but 
they knew not that I healed them. I drew them with cords of 
a man, with bands of love; and I was to them as they that take 
off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat before them. — 

1 Chapters i-iii. The question is fully discussed in the Minor Prophets 
volume of The Modern Reader's Bible, pages 239-241. The chief rep- 
resentative of the other view is Plumptre, who has founded on it his 
beautiful poem of ' Gomer.' See his edition of Hosea in the Cambridge 
Bible for Schools. 2 Hosea xi-xiv. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 303 

He shall not return into the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian 
shall be his king, because they refused to return. And the 
sword shall fall upon his cities, and shall consume his bars, and 
devour them, because of their own counsels. And my people are 
bent to backsliding from me : though they call them to him 
that is on high, none at all will lift himself up. — 

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? how shall I deliver 
thee, Israel ? how shall I make thee as Admah ? how shall I 
set thee as Zeboim ? mine heart is turned within me, my com- 
passions are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness 
of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim : for I am 
God and not man. — 

The alternation between justice and mercy is prolonged; 
at last a second speaker appears under the name Ephraim 
— Hosea's term for northern Israel: the rebellious child 
speaks words of penitence, and the end is reconciliation. 

The Book of Amos is made up of two pieces of 
prophecy, very different in kind. The first is the simple 
oracle, an isolated word of Divine inspiration, without 
note or comment. It stands thus : — 

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, 
which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of 
Judah, and in the days of feroboam the son of Joash king of 
Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said : — 

The Lord shall roar from Zion, 

And utter his voice from Jerusalem : 
And the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, 

And the top of Carmel shall wither. 

This is an oracle of prediction; and the general sugges- 
tion is that this prediction of what actually came to 
pass as "the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah" 
raised Amos from his lowly position, and brought him 
recognition as a notable prophet. 



30! BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

All that follows is a single prophecy, and it may be 
entitled, A Rhapsody of the Judgment to Come. It is 
in three sections. The first has the general spirit of a 
doom song : six stanzas, of markedly parallel structure, 
voice Divine wrath against six guilty nations; then, by 
a climax of surprise, the same wrath is hurled at Judah 
and Israel. Thus, as a first stage of judgment Israel is 
included among the doomed nations. The second sec- 
tion, again a sevenfold outburst of Divine denunciation, 
describes the corruption that is already ripe for judg- 
ment. In the third section the judgment is presented 
as advancing by stages, until the overthrow of God's 
chosen people is complete; yet, at the last, there is a 
sifted remnant reserved for the restoration that is on the 
other side of judgment. 1 

Jonah is entirely different in character from the rest 
of the prophetic books. It is epic prophecy, like the 
stories of the prophets scattered through Samuel and 
Kings : the Divine revelation is conveyed neither in 
discourse nor dramatic picture, but in the life and acts 
of the prophet himself. The book falls into two parts, 
each embodying its half of a complete truth. 

At the outset Jonah received a command to go to 
Nineveh and denounce its wickedness. He resisted, 

1 I may just mention a marked feature of Amos's writing, full justice 
to which could be done only by a detailed comment. This is the paren- 
thetic interruption : rhapsodic presentation of Divine warning or judg- 
ment is from time to time interrupted by subjective reflections, chiefly 
appeals to opponents of prophecy in general. In a less degree this is 
found in the writings of Isaiah. For a full discussion, see in The Mod- 
ern Reader's Bible : Minor Prophets volume, pages 251-253 ; Isaiah vol- 
ume, page 213. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 305 

and fled by ship to the far west, seeking to escape from 
the presence of the Lord. The story tells how a great 
wind was hurled into the sea; how the affrighted mari- 
ners, of varying nations and countries, cried each upon 
his god; how Jonah himself was roused from sleep to 
confront the situation. He recognised that the presence 
of Jehovah was pursuing him, and showed submission 
by asking to be cast overboard as sole cause of the storm. 
The mariners reluctantly obeyed; Jonah was cast into 
the sea, and miraculously rescued. To appreciate the 
prophetic revelation underlying this part of the story we 
must place ourselves in the mental position of the times. 
The early conception of deity was of a local power, an 
omnipotence bounded by geographical limits. Thus, 
the servants of the king of Syria, when defeated in battle 
by Israel, exclaimed 2 : — 

Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger 
than we : but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely 
we shall be stronger than they. 

A similar conception had animated Jonah; the incident 
of the tempest brought home to him that the power of 
Jehovah covered all lands and the sea itself. 

A second time the word came to Jonah; he instantly 
journeyed to Nineveh, and applied himself with zeal to 
his ministry of denunciation and doom. The result was 
a surprise; the vast city was roused to repentance, and 
the doom was stayed. Jonah remonstrated with God at 
this mercy shown to the Ninevites. It is by a kind of 
emblem prophecy that God raises his prophet to a loftier 
conception. In the sultry plains of Nineveh Jonah is 

1 / Kings xx. 23. 



306 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

sheltered by a gourd plant, and comes to love the fair 
thing of nature. The gourd is suddenly destroyed; and 
Jonah declares in the presence of God that he does well 
to be angry. 

And the Lord said: Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for 
the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; 
which came up in a night, and perished in a night : and should 
not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city; wherein are more 
than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between 
their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? 

The revelation here is not the compassion of God, for 
that Jonah expressly declares he had known from the 
beginning. But the Hebrew thinker had believed with 
all his might that mercy was the peculiar privilege of 
the chosen people of God; by his experience with the 
gourd plant he was brought into sympathy with a Divine 
compassion that embraced, not heathen peoples only, 
but even helpless infancy and the beasts of the field. 
Thus, the first part of Jonah is a revelation of the uni- 
versal omnipotence of Jehovah; the complete truth is 
that his mercy is coextensive with his power. 

The title page of Micah makes the prophet a contem- 
porary of Isaiah; like Isaiah he belongs to the southern 
kingdom. The two make an interesting contrast; Isaiah 
immersed in the great affairs of the capital, while Micah 
exercises his ministry in the country districts of Judah. 
But the prophetic message is the same; in both cases 
denunciation of corruption and threatening of doom are 
balanced by golden hopes of restoration and Messianic 
rule. 

Tn literary form the book falls into two different parts. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 307 

The first 1 is an elaborate discourse of judgment and sal- 
vation, which becomes rhapsodic in parts, as it pictures 
the steps of advancing doom. This is followed by two 
prophecies in dramatic dialogue. The first is the 
briefest of all such dialogues, yet embodies a great con- 
ception. The mountains — emblem of eternal princi- 
ples of right — are made judges in Jehovah's controversy 
with his people. The Divine plaintiff recites his mer- 
cies to his chosen nation, and appeals against ingratitude. 
Defendant Israel knows not what plea to make. 

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself 
before the high God ? shall I come before him with burnt offer- 
ings, with calves of a year old ? Will the Lord be pleased 
with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? 
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my 
body for the sin of my soul ? 

The mountains pronounce their judgment. 

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth 
the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, 
and to walk humbly with thy God ? 

To the second of Micah's dramatic prophecies allusion 
has already been made. 2 The same controversy between 
God and Israel is presented, but a new speaker appears; 
the 'man of wisdom ' represents the remnant to be saved, 
and rejoices in confidence while all around is despair. 
The tone of confidence gathers strength, and the dialogue 
ends with celebration of the pardoning God. 

The remaining books of Old Testament prophecy 
stand in the names of Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. But 
here arises a question of literary form, whether there is 

1 Chapters i-v. 2 Above, page 7. 



308 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

not error in the traditional divisions of the sacred books. 
Haggai and Zechariah appear in history as prophets of 
the return, whose office is to strengthen the faith of 
those who are rebuilding the Temple. The contents 
of the books confirm this, to the end of the eighth chap- 
ter of our Book of Zechariah. The rest of this book 
seems to have no connection with what has preceded, 
-and no connection with the historical personality of 
Zechariah. Again, 'Malachi' has no resemblance to 
a personal name; it signifies 'My Messenger,' and makes 
an excellent subject-title for the book to which it is 
affixed; moreover, it is clear that it was so understood 
in the times of the Septuagint and the Targums. The 
general suggestion of these facts is this : Originally the 
roll of prophets contained books ascribed to known 
authors, ending with Zechariah; these were followed by 
anonymous prophecies, ending with the book entitled 
Malachi. But in time 'Malachi ' came to be read as a 
personal name, like Isaiah or Jeremiah; then the rest 
of the anonymous prophecies, standing alone, came to 
attach themselves to The Book of Zechariah. 

Haggai is made up of four prophecies exactly dated, 
all of them encouragements to the builders of the Tem- 
ple. The Book of Zechariah (that is, the first eight 
chapters of the biblical ZechariaJi) is made up of three 
prophecies, exactly dated in the same manner. The 
first is a general manifesto of this prophet's message. 
The third is an elaborate response to a formal inquiry 
on the subject of fast days. Between these is found a 
prophetic composition of great literary importance. 

The Sevenfold Vision of Zechariah is beyond any 
prophecy of the Old Testament in the demand it makes 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 309 

upon the imaginative powers. Both in form and spirit 
it is a counterpart of the still more elaborate Revelatio?i 
of St. John. Dream form pervades the whole; but it 
is the most complex of all dreams. When, in the 
middle of the prophecy, it is said that the angel ' wakes ' 
the prophet, the meaning is not that he was waked from 
his dream, but in his dream : we have vision within 
vision and dream within dream. There is what may be 
called the 'enveloping vision ' : in a mystic land horses, 
red, sorrel, and white, stand among the myrtle trees, 
ready to serve as ministers of the Divine purposes, going 
to and fro in the earth. This enveloping vision, made 
prominent at the beginning and the close, remains 
throughout as a background to what else appears. There 
follow, like a succession of dissolving views, the seven 
emblem visions, each symbolising some mercy for Israel. 
Horns and smiths typify the nations which have afflicted, 
the powers which are to avenge. 'The measuring of 
Jerusalem foreshadows a sacred city that is to spread 
beyond the power of measurement. The third vision is 
a counterpart to the scene with which fob opens : before 
the hierarchy of heaven the high priest Joshua, repre- 
sentative of the Temple builders, is arraigned, and glo- 
riously acquitted and exalted. In the central vision the 
golden candlestick makes sure the completion to the last 
detail of the restored Temple. Next, the two olive trees 
typify the two 'sons of oil' — priesthood and princely 
authority now reconciled. The visions of the flying 
roll, of the ephah and talent, are made to foreshadow 
the moral purification of the land. Then the envelop- 
ing vision resumes its prominence, and the ministering 
powers are seen already accomplishing their work. The 



310 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

vision is followed by an epilogue, in which the prophet 
acts upon the new revelation by a solemn coronation of 
the High Priest Joshua. 

The latter part of the biblical Zechariah is occupied, 
as we have seen, with a group of anonymous prophecies. 
The first of these 1 might be entitled, The King of Peace. 
It is in the form of doom prophecies: the monologue of 
Jehovah is interrupted, from time to time, by lyric out- 
bursts, confirming or celebrating the Divine word. One 
of these lyric songs justifies the suggested title. 

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; 

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem : 
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee : 

He is just, and having salvation; 
Lowly, and riding upon an ass, 

Even upon- a colt, the foal of an ass. 

The second 2 is an emblem prophecy — The With- 
drawal of the Divine Shepherd. Next 3 follow three 
Prophecies of the Siege, in the form of ordinary dis- 
course. 

There remains the book entitled Malachi. This has 
a literary form almost peculiar to itself. It might be 
called dialectic prophecy : there are discourses on texts, 
but the texts come as interruptions from the audience 
addressed. Sometimes the interruption is double. 

A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master : if then 
I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, 
where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, 
that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised 
thy name ? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And 
ye say, wherein have we polluted thee ? 

1 Zechariah ix. i-xi. 3. 2 Chapter xi from verse 4. 

3 Chapters xii-xiv. 



OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 311 

It is the italicised questions which make the real text of 
the discourse : its topic is the cheapening of the offerings 
made to God, the idea that the lame and blind, not 
good enough for the governor, are good enough for God ! 
In its subject-matter this last book of the Old Testament 
takes us so far forward in time that the exile seems a 
thing forgotten; the spiritualisation of Israel brought 
about by captivity has already begun to lose its force. 
There is, on the other hand, a looking for a Divine 
'Messenger' to come. The last word of the prophecy 
cites the promise of the lawgiver Moses, that a prophet 
should be raised up like unto himself : this prophet, says 
Malachi, shall come as precursor to the great and terrible 
day of the Lord. 



CHAPTER X 

NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 

Prophecy in the New Testament is represented by 
The Book of Revelation. As this is not only the last 
book in the Bible, and the final work remaining for our 
consideration, but is also the portion of Scripture in the 
analysis of which the literary element is found to be most 
prominent, it may be not amiss to review at this point 
what, in application to such a work, is implied in literary 
study, what is the literary factor in its interpretation. 

We are dealing with a work of prophecy : at the outset 
the interpreter must free himself from the almost universal 
popular error, that in prophetic literature prediction of 
the future is to be expected. What is unveiled may be 
futurity ; but the revelation may be, like the revelation to 
Moses in the mount, an unveiling of the ideal of things, 
the pattern of the true. The common misconception is 
in the present case assisted by certain phrases that occur 
in the title page l of the book — " the things which must 
shortly come to pass," — " for the time is at hand." But 
a careful reading will show that these words are to be 
understood, not as a part of the revelation, but as the 
writer's (or an editor's) comment upon the book. They 
are simply illustrations of an idea from which the greatest 
of the apostles were not free, but which nevertheless time 

1 Chapter i. 1-3. 
312 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 313 

has shown to be no part of their apostolic message — 
that the coming of the Lord and end of the world was 
immediately at hand. 

Again, Revelation is a poem. We have seen 1 how 
great part of prophecy is poetry in the strictest sense — 
creative literature, with imaginative scenes and incidents 
used by the prophets as a vehicle for conveying the 
Divine message with which they feel themselves inspired. 
For reading such prophecy there is needed, not only 
intelligence, but also imagination ; unless the inward eye 
has caught the visionary picture in all its fulness, the most 
acute interpretative power will be applying itself to the 
wrong matter. Accordingly, the interpreter of Revelation 
should have prepared himself by appreciation of the 
world's greatest poetry ; he should have studied Milton 
and Dante, the rhapsodies in the books of Isaiah, of Joel, 
of Habakkuk. Above all he should h have mastered the 
Visions of Zechariah : these, with their dream form, dream 
within dream, and visions rising one out of another like 
a series of dissolving views, make the nearest approach 
to the imaginative impressions of the New Testament 
apocalypse. 

When the mental pictures have been fully realised they 
are found to be symbolic in their significance : the reader 
must come to them prepared by familiarity with figurative 
literature. I have already urged, 2 as a foundation princi- 
ple in biblical symbolism, the recognition of the vision 
emblem as no more than the text of a discourse : the 
truth intended to be symbolised the prophet will convey 
by his words of comment. This principle must be applied 
even to the most extended visions. Thus, when Ezekiel 

1 Above, page 123. 2 Above, page 296. 



314 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

has his Vision of Jerusalem in her Pollutions, we are not 
to understand that the eye of the prophet was miraculously 
opened to see what was actually going on in the Temple 
at Jerusalem at the very moment. So far from this being 
the case, as the vision progresses the prophet himself 
becomes a part of it : Ezekiel, by the banks of the Chebar, 
is commanded to prophesy to the idolaters in Jerusalem, 
and as (in his vision) he prophesies Pelatiah falls dead 
before his ministry. From beginning to end all that 
Ezekiel sees is an emblem — supernaturally presented — 
of the real truth : how the land and people of Jehovah 
are defiling themselves with foreign idolatries, and judg- 
ment is at the door. If this principle of interpretation is 
correct, it will be seen at once how important is its appli- 
cation to such a book as Revelation. Many readers look 
upon the apocalypse as a prophetic riddle : if only they 
can guess the enigmatic language, they think they will 
have learned the secret of the end of the world, or will 
be able to place their own age in a map of all time. But 
even if we assume that it is futurity which is being re- 
vealed, and if we suppose that we have construed the 
enigmatic sentences, even then what we have attained 
is, not the events themselves, but only an emblem text, a 
vision incident which prophecy may apply to its discus- 
sion of what is to come. 

We have seen in previous studies how structural analy- 
sis has an important place in interpretation. There are, 
in the case of Revelation, two points peculiarly charac- 
teristic of Hebrew literary form. One is obvious to 
every reader: the way in which sevenfold division and 
subdivision penetrates every part of the book. The other 
is at once more important and easier to miss. Our 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 315 

analysis of the rhapsody of Joel (to take the most promi- 
nent example) illustrated the tendency of Hebrew poetry 
to find its climax at the centre rather than at the end. 
In Revelation the same type of movement is exhibited, 
the central stage of the seven forming, as it were, the 
keystone of an arch. 

4. Salvation: The Kingdom of 
the World becoming the 
Kingdom of Christ 
xi. 19-xv. 4. 

3. The Seven Trum- 5. The Seven Golden 

pets : Judgment Im- Bowls : Judgment 

perfect and the Consummated and 

Mystery of Prophecy the Mystery of Baby- 

viii. 5-xi. 18. Ion 

xv. 5-xix. 4. 

2. The Seven Seals : 6 . The Word of God : 

Judgment Potential Judgment Enthroned 

vi-viii. 4. x j x# 5 _ xx 

1. The Sealed Book and 7 . The Lamb's Bride, 

the Lamb and the New j erU sa- 



1V-V. 



lem 

xxi-xxii. 5. 



It is easy to see how important a bearing such struc- 
tural analysis will have upon interpretation ; and how one 
who has ignored it may be seeking at the end of the poem 
for the climax thought which he has passed by unobserved 
at the centre. 

Yet another consideration must be borne in mind 
before we have completely stated the literary factor in 
the interpretation of the apocalypse. It is written that 
" The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy " : these 



316 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

words not only convey a truth of theology, but also in- 
dicate what is a notable literary feature of the book. 
Revelation is full of symbolism : but upon examination 
it will be found that scarcely a single symbol is new. 
The figurative ideas of the Old Testament prophets are 
borrowed, and transfigured in the borrowing : they are 
intensified, massed together, associated with new appli- 
cations : so many prophetic gems combined in a diadem 
of light with which to crown a supreme prophecy. Now 
this use of borrowed materials is a distinguishing feature 
of that type of poetry which is called, in the strictest sense 
of the word, 'classical.' What we know as Homer has 
been built up out of ballad poetry which has otherwise 
perished. The Roman poets adapt Homeric details to a 
new legend, or reproduce the idyllic scenes of the Greek 
Theocritus scarcely veiled in their Italian dress. Dante 
in his turn echoes Virgil; Spenser will be found almost 
translating Tasso ; Milton makes his phrases and incidents 
recall all his predecessors, with additional echoes from 
the poetry of the Bible. The classical poets thus form a 
sort of apostolic succession in literature, each resting his 
claim to poetic power on the use of what he has received 
from his predecessors. But if this echoing of past litera- 
ture is a regular feature of one type of poetry, there has 
never been such an opportunity for it as in The Book of 
Revelation, where it ministers to the supremacy of the 
theme. The writer of this apocalypse seems to feel that 
no symbol can be sacred enough for his use unless it has 
been hallowed by associations with the prophecy of the 
past. There is thus a further burden laid upon the 
interpreter : when the symbol has been caught, he must 
draw in all its echoes from the prophetic literature of the 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 317 

old dispensation, before he has attained the fulness of its 
significance. 

We have before us, then, a sevenfold vision, prefaced 
by addresses to the seven churches, with an epilogue of 
seven last words ; the seven visions rising one out of the 
other like dissolving views ; all made up of visible em- 
blems which are echoes from the prophecy of the past ; 
while in the central vision of the seven is to be sought 
the foundation truth upon which the whole is to rest. 

The prologue gives but a flash of the glory which is 
to come. The seer is in the lonely isle of Patmos, as 
Ezekiel had been lonely by the river Chebar. Suddenly 
the ushering trumpet arrests his attention, and there is 
before his gaze such a form as Daniel had once seen : 
the head and hair white as wool, the golden girdle, the 
feet of burnished brass. All about are symbols of old 
prophecy intensified : the golden candlestick, which had 
figured to Zechariah the completion of the Jewish church, 
has become seven candlesticks for the multiplied churches 
of the new dispensation ; the morning stars, which had 
been world rulers in Job, are now the angels of the seven 
churches. What is spoken takes form from an ancient 
prophecy : as Amos was commissioned with words to the 
seven guilty nations — particular denunciations of each, 
with recurring formulae of doom — so John is to transmit 
the particular messages to the seven churches of Asia, 
while each message is framed round with refrains, or with 
fragments of the vision which is coming. 1 

1 Allusions to Old Testament symbolism in Revelation are too 
numerous to be indicated here by references. This element of interpre- 
tation is worked out in detail in the St. John volume of The Modern 
Reader's Bible, pages 196-215. 



318 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

When we pass from the prologue to the actual revela- 
tion, heaven itself has opened : all has vanished except a 
region where is neither space nor time. What Ezekiel 
saw in its moving radiancy is before us in its eternal 
splendour of repose : the Throne of Deity, rising out of 
the crystalline sea. He who sits on the throne is lost 
in impenetrable brightness, fringed with rainbow glory. 
Around are gradations of power, elders grouped about 
the ancient of days. Powers of nature are there : 
thunders and lightnings and voices proceeding out of 
the throne. There, too, are powers of the mechanism 
that executes : what Ezekiel saw as wheel within wheel 
here appears as seven lamps of fire burning before the 
throne, and these Zechariah's vision enables us to under- 
stand as emanations from heaven that become ministries 
on earth. Powers of life are added : no single creature of 
earth is seen, but there are wings that wave, eyes that 
flash, forms that distinguish. And the whole is one 
ceaseless round of adoration, stretching from eternity 
to eternity. 

But the vision modifies itself to the eye of the seer, and 
in the hands of him that sits upon the throne is a book, 
a sealed book, a book sealed with seven seals. In the 
intensity of dream emotion the seer is weeping that none 
is found worthy to unseal the book, when a comforting 
voice cries that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is worthy 
to open the mystery. This echo from the old Blessing 
of Jacob is still in our ears, when there follows a great 
surprise : no lion, but " a Lamb, standing as though it had 
been slain." We recall at once the central vision of the 
Isaiahan rhapsody — one led as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and the Baptist's application of this to the Lamb of God 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 319 

that taketh away the sins of the world. The adoration 
of heaven is transferred to this new figure, in the seven- 
fold blessing that attributes the power and riches and wis- 
dom and might and honour and glory and blessing to the 
Lamb that hath been slain ; while a new symbol is seen 
— bowls full of rising incense, which the seer knows to 
be the prayers of the saints ascending to heaven. So the 
first vision dissolves into the second, with but two ideas 
standing prominent : the seals of mystery, and the slain 
Lamb through whom alone they may be opened. 

With the second vision we have the unsealing of the 
seven seals. Powers of judgment appear, but the judg- 
ment is not to be seen in execution. There is an echo 
of Jeremiah's refrain : * — 

Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the 
sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the 
famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity. 

The visible emblems are from Zechariah's vision of 
horses — red, sorrel, and white — that were to be executing 
ministries on earth. But here each colour has a mystic 
significance. As the first seal is opened there rides forth 
the white horse ; the bow and crown proclaim its rider 
the conqueror that takes captive. As the second seal is 
opened we see the red horse of war and slaughter. With 
the -third seal is seen the rider on the black horse : the 
balance he holds in his hand has been familiar in Ezekiel's 
prophecies as symbol of the careful weighing of food in 
famine. There follows, at the fourth seal, the pale horse 
and his rider Death, Hades attending. When the fifth 
seal is opened we hear — as in Zechariah's visions — the 

1 Chapter xv. 2. 



320 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

souls beneath the altar of martyrdom crying, How long? 
To each individual is given the white robe, but for their 
common judgment they are to wait until their martyr 
brethren shall have been fulfilled. With the opening of 
the sixth seal we have gathered from all over the field of 
prophetic literature the signs that speak the very moment 
preceding doom : Joel's darkened sun and blood-red 
moon ; Isaiah's folding of the heavens like a scroll, 
mountains and islands fleeing out of their places, great 
and small hiding in caves and rocks ; Hosea's cries to 
mountains and hills to make a cover from the coming 
wrath. But at this point — with an echo from Ezekiel's 
vision of Jerusalem — the coming doom is held back ; 
not a breath is to blow upon the earth until the sen-ants 
of God have been sealed on their foreheads. In orderly 
ritual the sealing proceeds, of one tribe twelve thousand, 
and of another and another. At last the bonds of ritual 
are broken through by a great surprise — a multitude that 
no man can number, out of every nation, tribe, people, 
tongue : all arrayed in white robes, with palms in their 
hands. It is told how these are they that came out of 
the great tribulation, and washed their robes white in the 
blood of the Lamb. The words of description mingle 
with prophetic strains that once glorified the exiles re- 
turning to Zion : x — 

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither 
shall the sun strike upon them, nor any heat : for the Lamb 
which is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd, 
and shall guide them unto fountains of waters of life. 

Now only may the seventh seal be opened. There falls 
upon the heavenly scene a great silence : the silence of 

1 Compare Isaiah xlix. 10. 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 321 

expectation, a pointing ever onward, as vision succeeds 
vision, the whole approaching the central climax. 

The third vision displays the seven angels with the seven 
trumpets of doom : we instinctively think of the falling 
walls of Jericho, of the blast which ushered in Joel's day of 
darkness and terror. Now judgment is to advance : and 
yet at every point we are to see a mystic limitation and 
imperfection of judgment. With the sounding of the first 
trumpet the plagues of Egypt appear intensified — hail 
and fire, mingled with blood, are cast upon the earth : 
and yet but a third part of the earth is burnt up. The 
second angel sounds, and the burning mountain imagined 
by Jeremiah is cast into the sea : yet but a third part of 
what the sea holds is destroyed. With the sounding of 
the third trumpet Jeremiah's star Wormwood falls upon 
the third part of the rivers and fountains, carrying bitter- 
ness in its train ; another sounding, and a third part of 
the heavenly bodies is darkened. Four times judgment 
has descended from above ; when the next angel sounds 
his trumpet judgment breaks out from beneath. The 
abyss of fire opens, and in the spreading clouds of smoke 
are involved clouds of such mystic locust hosts as Joel had 
seen in his* vision : yet even these are restrained, that they 
may torment, but must not kill. With the sixth sounding 
judgment appears at Euphrates — mystic centre of the 
earth — and spreads along the four winds : but, though 
the number of the visionary horsemen is twice ten thou- 
sand times ten thousand, yet they are to exercise their 
power upon only the third part of men. 

At this point the whole movement intensifies. The 
angel of strength is seen, arrayed in cloud, crowned with 
rainbow ; his mighty stride takes in earth and sea ; when 



322 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

he speaks, not trumpets, but the seven thunders, utter 
their voices. Yet there is again a restraining : the seer is 
to seal up and write not what the thunders utter. The 
sense of restraint is the greater, since already it has been 
sworn, by Him that liveth forever, that, as soon as the 
seventh angel shall have sounded his trumpet, then is 
finished the mystery of God according to the good tid- 
ings which he declared to his servants the prophets. 
But — with an echo from the experience of Ezekiel — 
the seer takes from the angel the little book, sweet as 
honey in the mouth, but bitter when swallowed ; he must 
"prophesy again over many peoples and nations and 
tongues and kings." Mystic words are thus spoken, 
through which are breaking memories of the past : the 
measuring reed of Ezekiel's vision Temple, the olive 
trees and candlesticks of Zechariah ; power to shut up 
heaven that it rain not, as in the days of Elijah ; powers 
to turn water into blood, as in the days of Moses ; mar- 
tyrdoms in the Jerusalem that killeth the prophets ; breath 
entering into dry bones such as Ezekiel saw in his 
vision ; ascents like Elijah's to heaven. It is gradually 
borne in upon our minds how this third vision, with its 
mysterious limitations of judgment, is bound up with the 
imperfect glory of the law and the prophets, and of those 
who without them that were to come could not be made 
perfect. Just when we are filled with this thought is 
heard the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and all heaven 
shouts the master idea of the whole Revelation : — 

The Kingdom of the World is become the Kingdom 

of Our Lord, and of his Christ : and he shall reign 

for ever and ever ! 

The mystery of prophecy is to be unsealed in Christ. 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 323 

We thus pass to the central section and climax of the 
Revelation ; other visions are visions of judgment, but 
this keystone of the arch is to be called by the name of 
Salvation, and it presents the kingdom of the world 
becoming the kingdom of Christ. The seven visions, it 
must be understood, are not bound together by temporal 
succession ; each displays a world process complete in 
itself. So this contest between the world and Christ 
must be traced through all its seven stages. The first 
origin of this contest is symbolised where we have Isaiah's 
sign of the woman with child presented in glorified form, 
while over against her is the great dragon — the serpent 
of Genesis — intensified with monstrous heads and dia- 
dems, waiting to devour what shall be born. The second 
phase is a contest in heaven : Michael and his angels 
warring with the dragon, who draws with him a third part 
of the stars of heaven as he is cast t:o the earth. Now it 
becomes a contest on earth, the dragon persecuting the 
woman who had borne the mystic child ; the primitive 
imagery, that figured the perpetual contest between the 
winding serpent of the water and the land it encircles, 
which more than once is the subject of allusions in The 
Book of Job, is here echoed in the earth opening its 
mouth to swallow up the river cast by the dragon against 
the woman. For a fourth phase of the contest the 
opposition of the world to Christ takes the form of 
organised and concentrated power, the brute force of such 
beasts as Daniel saw rising out of the sea : details like the 
seven heads give vague hints of actual world powers that 
may illustrate this type of opposition. A stage further is 
seen in the beast with " two horns like unto a lamb." Here 
the symbolism of the two sides of the contest has become 



324 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

entangled, and we think of the spiritual making common 
cause with worldly power, in superstition or false religion ; 
the new monster is a beast-like prophet of the beast. At 
the sixth stage are seen the followers of the Lamb 
arrayed for warfare : they are sealed with the mystic 
name, and sing the song none know but themselves ; it is 
as the sound of thunder for fulness, yet he who listens 
hears it as the voice of harpers harping with their harps. 
Voices of expectancy usher in the final phase of the 
vision : the white cloud, and on it one like to a son of 
man; the casting to the earth of the sickle in token of 
the hour of reaping. But Joel's figure of the sickle is 
insufficient : with echoes from Isaiah we see the vintage 
gathered into the winepress of the wrath of God, and 
the stream of blood from this winepress reaches to the 
bridles of the horses. Now the crystalline sea flushes 
with the hue of victory, and the vision culminates in the 
'Song of Moses and the Lamb.' When the first deliver- 
ance of a people of God, beside the Red Sea, has thus 
been joined to the final triumph of the saints, the whole 
range of salvation has been traversed. 

The descending movement of the arch is a tribute to 
the spirit of symmetry pervading Hebrew poetry : what- 
ever has been left unfinished must now be gathered up and 
brought to completion. The fifth vision supplements the 
third : there judgment was seen imperfect, now, the key 
of all world mystery having been given, judgment may be 
consummated. The seven trumpets are replaced by the 
seven golden bowls — what in the old prophecies appeared 
as the cup of the Lord's fury. Four times judgment again 
descends from above j it comes again from beneath, and 
at central Euphrates : but from first to last there is no 



NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 325 

note of limit or imperfection. As the seventh bowl is 
poured forth there is a cry, It is done : and the world 
process of this vision is expounded as the Mystery of 
Babylon. The vivid details begin with the actual 
Babylon of history, theme of so many prophetic dooms ; 
soon there intermingle pictures of maritime glory and 
weeping merchants that recall the doom of Tyre ; when 
other hints follow, the suggestion is clear that the pro- 
phetic Babylon covers every power that exalts itself 
against the kingship of Christ. 

As the fifth vision points back to the third, so does the 
sixth to the second ; judgment there was but potential, 
now it is to be seen enthroned. We have now but one 
horse, for he who rides is the Word of God, King of 
Kings and Lord of Lords : he hath another name none 
can know but himself. Before his victorious course all 
forms of opposition disappear. At last is seen the great 
white throne, and (as in Daniel's vision) the opening of 
books of doom : earth and heaven flee away, the dead 
are judged, Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire 
— the death to which Death itself is destined. 

The opening of the Revelation had displayed the 
eternal repose of Deity, without one disturbing ripple 
of the mystery that craves solution. At the close we 
return to a vision of peace — the peace that lies on the 
further side of judgment. There is new heaven and new 
earth ; a new Jerusalem descending from above. Ezekiel's 
vision, with its many symmetries, provides fit framework 
for the new commonwealth of God. But fairer figures 
are added. From the Isaiahan rhapsody comes the 
thought of Jerusalem as the bride of the Lamb, adorned 
as spouse for Him who is now to tabernacle with men. 



326 BIBLICAL POETRY AND PROSE 

From the same source is the vision of glorious purity — 
the city's foundations of precious stones, her gates of 
pearl, her pavement of transparent gold. Ezekiel has 
furnished the figure of the water of life proceeding out of 
the throne to water the city. One final symbol comes as 
echo from the earliest symbol of Genesis : transplanted 
from Eden the tree of life spreads healing leaves beside 
the river. In a brightness that knows no night, and no 
sun but the Lamb himself, the visions of the Revelation 
reach their close. 

There remains the epilogue of the Seven Last Words. 
The central word of the seven is this : — 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the 
beginning and the end. 

This word is the unifying thought of the whole book : nay, 
of the whole Bible. The Revelation of St. John is the 
meeting ground of the Old and New Testament ; what 
binds the long succession of books — by so many authors, 
of so many different ages — into a unity is expressed by 
the saying that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy. The whole of prophetic literature yields its 
imaginative figures to adorn this final Revelation ■ all his- 
tory is made one by the central thought of the kingdom 
of the world becoming the kingdom of Christ. 



APPENDICES 



GENERAL REMARKS 

It must be understood that these appendices are dealing 
solely with the literary study of Scripture as defined in this 
work. For theological or historic studies, students should 
seek information from authorities with whom they are in 
agreement : literary study is common ground between all 
schools of thought. 

An essential of literary study is a properly printed text, 
which presents literary structure clearly to the eye. This, which 
is taken for granted in all other literature, is not given by 
versions of the Bible in ordinary use. To meet this difficulty 
The Modern Readers Bible has been prepared, which prints 
the words of the Revised Version in full structural form, with 
introductions and notes. The whole Bible, with part of the 
Apocrypha, is covered by twenty-one volumes, which may be 
procured separately, or all together. 1 The volumes are as 
follows : — 

Genesis — The Exodus — Deuteronomy — The Judges — The 
Kings — The Chronicles. 

Proverbs — Ecclesiasticus — Ecclesiastes and Wisdom of Solo- 
mon — Job. 

The Psalms [two .volumes] — Biblical Idyls [containing 
Solomon's Song, Ruth, Esther, and Tobif\ . 

1 Macmillan, London and New York. Price of each volume : 
(English), cloth, 2/6; (American), cloth, 50 cents, leather, 60 
cents. In the American edition the twenty-one volumes may be 
procured in a case; price: (cloth), $10 ; (leather), $12.60. 
[Note : There are three additional volumes (see below, pages 353 
, and 354) not included in this case.] 

329 



330 APPENDICES 

Isaiah — Jeremiah — Ezekiel — Daniel "and the Minor Prophets. 
St. Luke and St. Paul [two volumes] — St. John — St. Mat- 
thew, etc. 

Of the ordinary versions, the Revised is essential for literary 
study. It inherits, and often enhances, the beauty of phrase- 
ology which distinguished King James's Version, and further, 
gives a connectedness of thought which was little sought by 
the earlier translators. If this version be used, it will be well 
to mark with a lead pencil in the margin the divisions of 
literary works in Scripture, such as may be collected from 
Appendix I. 

Apart from formal study, it is suggested that in ordinary 
reading of Scripture selections should be made with the as- 
sistance of Appendix I (or similar reading lists), and not by 
the misleading divisions of chapter and verse in the old 
versions. 



APPENDIX I 

BIBLE READING 

ARRANGED TO ACCOMPANY THE PRESENT VOLUME 



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APPENDICES 341 



TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTER III 

THE HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH 
AS PRESENTED BY ITSELF 

*** This is covered by two volumes of The Modern Reader's 
Bible : viz. St. Luke and St. Paul (volumes I and 2). 

Life of Jesus. (Pages 91-96.) 

Birth and Early Life of Jesus \_Luke i-iv. 13] — The Ministry 
in Galilee [iv. 14-ix. 50] — The Way to Jerusalem [ix. 51-xix. 
28] — Jesus in Jerusalem, his Passion and Resurrection [xix. 
29-xxiv]. 

The Acts of the Apostles. (Pages 96-118.) 

1. Evangelisation of Palestine, and Conversion of the Gentiles 

\_Acts i-xiij. 

2. Institution of the Missionary Journey and Opening of the 

Gospel to Europe [xiii-xviii. 11]. 

3. Institution of the Missionary Epistle [xviii. 12-xix. 20]. 

After xviii. 11 read Epistles to the Thessalonians. 
After xviii. 23 read Epistle to the Galatians. 
After xix. 20 read First Epistle to the Corinthians. 

4. St. Paul and Rome [Ads xix. 21-xxviii]. 

After xx. I read Second Epistle to the Corinthians. 

After xx. 2 read Epistle to the Romans. 

After the end of Acts read the Epistles : Ephesians, 
Colossians, Philippians, Philemon ; I and II Tim- 
othy, Titus. 

Remaining Epistles: Of Peter, Jude, Second and 
Third of John. — An Epistle to Hebrews. 



342 APPENDICES 

TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTER V 

OLD TESTAMENT WISDOM 

%* This is covered by four volumes of The Modern Reader's 
Bible : viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiasticus, Ecclesiastes and 
Wisdom, The Book of Job. 

The Proverbs. — A Miscellany in five parts : Sonnets on 
Wisdom \_Proverbs i-ix] — Proverbs of Solomon [x-xxii. 
16] — A Wisdom Epistle [xxii. 17-xxiv] — Proverbs of 
Solomon collected under Hezekiah [xxv-xxix] — Shorter 
Collections [xxx-xxxi]. (Pages 136-146.) 

The Sonnets are : The Company of Sinners [i. 10-19] — Wis- 
dom's Cry of Warning [i. 20-33] — Wisdom the Deliverer 
from Evil [ii] — The Commandment and the Reward [iii. 
1-10] — Wisdom the Supreme Prize [iii. 1 1-20] — Wis- 
dom and Security [iii. 21-26] — Wisdom and Perversity 
[iii. 27-35] — The Tradition of Wisdom [iv. 1-9] — The 
Two Paths [iv. 10-19] — Wisdom and Health [iv. 20-27] 

— The Strange Woman [v] — Suretiship [vi. 1-5] — 
The Sluggard [vi. 6-1 1] — A Pair of Sonnets: The Sower 
of Discord [vi. 12-19] — Adultery the Supreme Folly [vi. 
20-35] — Wisdom and the Strange Woman [vii-viii] — 
The House of Wisdom and the House of Folly [ix] — 
Wine and Woe [xxiii. 29-35] —The Field of the Slothful 
[xxiv. 30-34] — The Unsearchableness of God [xxx. 1-4] 

— An Evil Generation [xxx. n-14] — The Virtuous 
Woman [xxxi. 10-31]. 

Number Sonnets of Agur [xxx. 7-9 ; 15-16 ; 18-19 ; 21-23; 
24-28; 29-31]. — All the rest of The Book of Proverbs 
is made up of brevities, such as proverbs, epigrams, etc. 

Ecclesiasticus : or, The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. 
— A Miscellany in five books. Book I [i-xxiii] — Preface 
and Book II [xxiv-xxxiii. 15] — Preface and Book III 



APPENDICES 343 

[xxxiii. 16-xxxix. n] — Preface and Book IV [xxxix. 
12-xlii. 14] — Book V [xlii. 15-L 24] — Epilogue [1 from 
verse 25] — Author's Preface [li] . (Pages 136-146.) 

Sonnets are : Wisdom and the Fear of the Lord [i. 1-20] 

— True and False Fear [ii. 7-18] — Fools and the Dead 
[xxii. 11-12] — Watchfulness of Lips and Heart [xxii. 
27-xxiii. 6] — Women Bad and Good [xxvi. 7-18] — The 
Fearers of the Lord [xxxiv. 13-17] — A Pair of Sonnets: 
A Garden of Blessings [xl. n-27] — On Death [xli. 1-4]. 

Among the Essays are: Honour to Parents [iii. -1-16] — 
Meekness [iii. 17-28 J — Consideration for High and Low 
[iv. 1-10] — Wisdom's Way with her Children [iv. n-19] 

— True and False Shame [iv. 20-28] — Friendship [vi. 
5-17] — Pursuit of Wisdom [vi. 18-37] — Household Pre- 
cepts [vii. 19-36] — Adaptation of Behaviour to Various 
Sorts of Men [viii-ix. 16] — Wisdom and Government 
[ix. 17-x. 5] — Pride and True Greatness [x. 6-xi. 6] — 
Prosperity and Adversity from the Lord [xi. 11-28] — 
Choice of Company [xi. 29-xiii. 24] — Niggardliness [xiv. 
3-19] — The Pursuer of Wisdom and his Reward [xiv. 20- 
xv. 10] — Free Will [xv. 11-20] — No Safety for Sinners 
in Numbers [xvi. 1-23] — God's Work of Creation and 
Restoration [xvi. 24-xviii. 14] — Against Gossip [xix. 4- 
17] — Wisdom and its Counterfeits [xix. 20-xx. 13] — The 
Discipline of the Mouth [xxiii. 7-15] — Retribution and 
Vengeance [xxvii. 25-xxviii. 11] — On the Tongue [xxviii. 
12-26] — On Lending and Suretiship [xxix. 1-20] — The 
Blessing of a House of One's Own [xxix. 21-28] — Chas- 
tisement of Children [xxx. 1-13] — On Health [xxx. 14- 
25] — On Riches [xxxi. 1-11] — On Feasting [xxxi. 12- 
xxxii. 13] — On Dreams [xxxiv. 1-8] — On Sacrifices 
[xxxiv. 18-xxxv] — On Wives [xxxvi. 21-26] — On Counsel 
and Counsellors [xxxvii. 7-26] — Disease and Physicians 
[xxxvii. 27-xxxviii. 15] — Mourning for the Dead [xxxviii. 
16-23] — The Wisdom of Business and the Wisdom of 
Leisure [xxxviii. 24-xxxix. 11] — The Burden of Life [xl. 



344 APPENDICES 

i-io] — Encomium on the Works of the Lord [xlii. 15- 
xliii] — Praise of Famous Men [xliv-1. 24]. 

The rest of Ecclesiasticus is made up of epigrams, maxims, 
short sayings, etc. 

Ecclesiastes ; or, The Preacher. — A Series of five essays, with 
miscellaneous sayings. (Pages 146-155.) 
Prologue: All is Vanity [i. 2-1 1]. 
Essay I: Solomon's Search for Wisdom [i. 12-ii]. 
Essay II: The Philosophy of Times and Seasons [iii. i-iv. 8] # 

[Miscellaneous Maxims of Life. 1 ] 
Essay III: The Vanity of Desire [v. 10-vi. 12]. 

[Miscellaneous Paradoxes of Life. 1 ] 
Essay IV : The Search for Wisdom, with Notes by the Way 
[vii. 23-ix. 16]. 

[Miscellaneous Proverbs of Life. 1 ] 
Essay V : Life as a Joy shadowed by the Vanity of the Days 

to Come [xi. 7— xii. 7]. 
Epilogue: All is Vanity: Fear God [xii. 8-14]. 

The Wisdom of Solomon, in the Apocrypha. — A Series of five 
Discourses. (Pages 155-164.) 

Discourse I: Singleness of Heart [i. i-n]. 

Discourse II : Immortality and the Covenant with Death [i. 

12-vi. 11]. • 

Discourse III : Solomon's Winning of Wisdom [vi. 12-ix]. 
Discourse IV: The World saved through Wisdom [x-xi. 5]. 
Discourse V : Judgments on the Wicked turned to Blessings 
on God's People [xi. 5-xix]. 

The Book of Job : A Dramatic Poem framed in an Epic Story. 
(Pages 164-186.) 

Story Prologue [i-ii]. 

Dramatic Poem : Job's Curse [iii] — First Cycle of Speeches 

1 These miscellaneous sections [iv. 9-v. 9; vii. 1-22; ix. 17-xi. 6] 
should be omitted in studying the argument of the book. 



APPENDICES 345 

[iv-xiv] — Second Cycle [xv-xxi 1 ] — Third Cycle 2 [xxii- 
xxx] — Job's Oath of Vindication [xxxi] — Interposition of 
Elihu [xxxii-xxxvii] — Divine Intervention [xxxviii-xlii. 6]. 
Story Epilogue [xlii from verse 7]. 



TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTER VI 

NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM 

%* This is covered by two volumes of The Modern Reader's 
Bible ; viz. St. Matthew, etc., and St. John. 
The Epistle of St. James. — A Miscellany of Christian Wis- 
dom. (Pages 187-193.) 

The Essays or Discourses' are : On the Sources of the Evil and 
the Good in us [i. 12-27 J — O n Respect of Persons [ii. 1-13] 

— Faith and Works [ii. 14-26] — The Responsibility of 
Speech [iii. 1-12] — The Earthly Wisdom and the Wisdom 
from Above [iii. 13-18] — On Worldly Pleasures [iv. 1-10] 

— The Judgment to Come [iv. 13-v. 18]. — The rest of the 
epistle is made up of brief epigrams, maxims, or paradoxes. 

[Note : The First Epistle of St. John is perhaps best read as a 
Miscellany of Christian Wisdom. The divisions would be : 
i. 1-4, 5-7; i. 8— ii. 2; ii. 3-6, 7-11, 12-14, 15—17, 18-28; 
ii. 29— iii. 12; iii. 13-23; iii. 24-iv. 6; iv. 7-21 ; v. r-5, 
6-13, 14-17, 18-21.] 



1 It is best in Chapter xxi to treat certain passages as interruptions : 
verse 16 Eliphaz — verse 19 (a) Bildad — verse 22 Zophar. [See 
The Modern Readers Bible, volume Job, pages 127-132.] 

2 The division of speeches needs rearrangement in the Third Cycle, 
including a transference of xxvi. 2-4 to the beginning of xxvii. The 
speeches then come out thus : Eliphaz [xxii] — Job [xxiii-xxiv] — Bildad 
[xxv, continued xxvi. 5-14] — Job [xxvi. 2-4, continued xxvii. 2-6] — 
Zophar [xxvii. 7-xxviii] — Job [xxix-xxx], — The question is fully dis- 
cussed in The Modern Reader s Bible, volume Job, pages 125-127. 



346 APPENDICES 

The Gospel of St. Matthew. — A Life of Jesus in the spirit of 
[Hebrew] Wisdom. (Pages 194-209.) 

1. Birth of Jesus 

i-ii 

2. John the Baptist, and appearance 

of Jesus in public 
iii-iv. 16 

3. Opening of the Ministry of Jesus 

and the Sermon on the Mount 
iv. 17-vii. 27 

4. First Impressions: Gathering of 

Disciples and Hints of Antago- 
nism 

vii. 28-ix. 34 

The Church The World 

5. Organisation of Apostles 6. Growing Isolation of Jesus 

and the Sevenfold Com- and his Ministry 

mission xi. 2-xii 
ix. 35-xi. 1 

7. The Public Parable and the 8. The Greater Miracles and 

Private Interpretation the Growing Antagonism 

xiii. 1—52 xiii. 53-xvi. 12 

9. Recognition of the King- 10. Entry into Jerusalem and 

dom by the Disciples and Breach with the Ruling 

Questions arising thereon Classes 

xvi. 13-xx xxi-xxiii 

11. Discourse to the Disciples: 12. Passion and Resurrection ot 

Revelation of the End Jesus 

xxiv-xxv xxvi-xxviii 

The Gospel of St. John. — A Life of Jesus in the spirit of 
[Greek] Wisdom. (Pages 209-218.) 
Prologue [i. 1-18] — Earlier Signs and Witness of Jesus 
[i. 19-iv] — Signs and Witness to the Jews [v-xii] — Signs 
and Witness to the Disciples [xiii-.wii] — The Passion and 
Resurrection of Jesus [xviii-xx] — Epilogue : A Personal 
Reminiscence [xxi]. 



APPENDICES 347 

TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTER VII 

LYRIC POETRY OF THE BIBLE 

%* This is covered by three volumes of The Modern Reader's 
Bible; viz. The Psalms (2 volumes), Biblical Idyls. 
Odes, Anthems, Songs. (Pages 219-238.) 

Odes : Song of Moses and Miriam [Exodus xv] — Deborah's 
Song [Judges v] — A Processional Ode [Psalm lxviii]. 

National Anthems : Psalms cxxxvi, cv, lxxviii, cvi : compare 
cvii. 

Occasional: Inauguration of Jerusalem [Psalms xxx; xxiv. 1-6, 
7-10; cxxxii; ci] — compare Sennacherib Songs [Psalms 
xlvi, xlviii, lxxvi]. 

Ritual Hymns and Anthems : Festal [Psalms xxxiii, xlv, xlvii, 
lxvii, lxxxi, xcv-c, cxxxv, cxlv-cl] — War [Psalms xx-xxi, 
lix, lx and cviii] — Votive [Psalms xxxiv, lxvi, xcii, cxi-cxviii] 

— Liturgies [Psalms xxv, xl, lxv, lxxxvi]. 

Songs and Meditations : Of Deliverance [Psalms xviii, cxxxviii, 
cxlii] — Of Nature and Providence [Psalms xxix, ciii-civ] — 
Of Judgment [Psalms lii, lviii, lxxv, lxxxiii, xciv] — Of Trust 
and Consecration [Psalms xi, xvi, lxii, xc, xci]. 

On Set Themes : The Tree and the Chaff [Psalm i] — Song of 
the Lord's Anointed [ii] — Man the Viceroy of God [viii] 
— The Consecrated Life [xv] — The Heavens above and the 
Law within [xix] — Under the Protection of Jehovah [xxiii] 

— Evil Unbounded and Infinite Good [xxxvi] — The Pros- 
perity of the Wicked [xxxvii] — Man that is in Honour: a 

- Parable [xlix] — A Dynasty of Righteousness [lxxii] — The 
Mystery of Prosperous Wickedness [lxxiii] — Zion Mother 
of Nations [lxxxvii] — Jehovah's Immovable Throne [xciii] 

— King and Priest [ex] — The Law of the Lord [cxix]. 
Songs of Ascents, or Pilgrim's Hymnbook [Psalms exx-exxxiv : 

compare Psalm lxxxi v]. 

Elegies. (Pages 238-239.) 
Personal : David's Lament [II Samuel i] — Psalm lxxxviii. 



34S APPENDICES 

National : Psalms xliv, lxxiv, lxxix, lxxx, lxxxix, cxxxvii. — Espe- 
cially: The Book of Lameiitations. 

3. Monologues and Dramatic Lyrics. (Pages 239-248.) 

Monodies of Experience : Psalms xxxii, xxxix, xli, xlii-xliii, 

lxxvii. 
Prayers and Litanies : Psalms iv, v, xiii, xvii, xxvi, xxxv, xxxviii, 

li, lv, lxi, lxiii, lxiv, lxx, cii, cix, cxl, cxli, cxliii. 
Dramatic Lyrics : Psalms iii, vi, xii, xxii, xxviii, liv, lvi, Ivii, 

lxix, lxxi, cxxxix. 
Dramatic Anthems : Psalms ix-x, xxvii, Lxxxv, cviii, cxliv. 
Visions: Psalms vii, 1, liii (= xiv), lxxxii. 

Lyric Idyl: Solomon's Song [in seven idyls] : I. The Wedding 
Day (i. 2-ii. 7) — 2. The Bride's Reminiscences of the 
Courtship (ii. 8— iii. 5) — 3. The Day of Betrothal (iii. 
6-v. 1) — 4. The Bride's Troubled Dream (v. 2-vi. 3) 

— 5. The King's Meditation on his Bride (vi. 4-vii. 9) 

— 6. The Bride's Longing for her Home on Lebanon (vii. 
10 -viii. 4) — 7. The Renewal of Love in the Vineyard of 
Lebanon (viii 5-14). (Pages 248-257.) 



TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTERS VIII AND IX 

OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY 

%* This is covered by four volumes of The Modem Reader's 
Bible ; viz. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, etc. 
Doom Prophecies. (Pages 260-266.) 

Nineveh: Nahiim. — Assyria: Isaiah xiv. 24-27. 

Babylon: Isaiah xiii-xiv. 23; Jeremiah 1-li. 

Egypt: Isaiah xix; Jeremiah xlvi. 3-12 and 14-28; Ezekiel 

xxix-xxxii. 
Tyre and Zidon : Isaiah xxiii; Ezekiel xxvi-xxviii. 
Philistia: Isaiah xiv. 28-32; Jeremiah xlvii; Ezekiel xxv. 15— 17. 
Damascus: Isaiah xvii. 1-11; Jeremiah xlix. 23-27. 
Moab : Isaiah xv-xvi; Jeremiah xlviii; Ezekiel xxv. 8-1 1. 



APPENDICES 349 

Edom: Jeremiah xlix. 7-22; Ezekiel xxv. 12-14; Obadiah. 

Ammon : Jeremiah xlix. 1-6; Ezekiel xxv. 1-7. 

Others: /wwtf^xvii. 12-14; xviii; xx; Jeremiah xlix. 28-39 — 
especially : The Prophetic Watchman [Isaiah xxi-xxii. 14]-^ 
and Zephaniah. 
Rhapsodies or Spiritual Dramas. (Pages 267-284.) 

Full Rhapsodies : The Rhapsody of Zion Redeemed 1 [Isaiah 
xl-lxvi] — Of Judgment [Isaiah xxiv-xxvii] — Of Salvation 
[Isaiah xxxiii] — Of the Drought [Jeremiah xiv-xv] — The 
Yearning of God [Hosea xi-xiv. 8] — Of the Judgment to 
Come [Amos from i. 3] — Of the Locust Plague [Joe/'] — 
The Lord's Controversy before the Mountains [Micah vi. 
1-8] — The Lord's Cry and the Man of Wisdom [ Micah vi. 
9-vii] — Of the Chaldeans [Habakkuk\ 

Rhapsodic Discourses: Isaiah viii. 9-ix. 7; x. 5-xii; Jeremiah 
li-vi; Micah i. 2-v; Zechariah ix-xi. 3. — Compare Zepha- 
niah, Nahum, and doom prophecies in general. 
Prophetic Story. (Pages 304-306 ; compare 56-57.) 

The Book of Jonah, in literary classification, ' goes with the 
stories of Elijah and other prophets figuring in the historical 
books. The revelation is made, not by discourse, but by the 
prophet's experience and action. 
Prophetic Ministry. (Pages 285-311.) 

Under the Kings : Isaiah — Micah — Hosea — Amos — Zecha- 
riah xi. 4-17. 

Siege of Jerusalem : Jeremiah — Zechariah xii-xiv. 

Under the Exile : Ezekiel — Daniel. 

After the Return : Haggai — Zechariah i-viii — Malachi. 
Divisions of the longer books. (Pages 285-301.) 

Isaiah: i-vi General Prophecies — vii-x. 4 The Sign Imman- 

1 This Rhapsody divides thus: Prelude [xl. 1-11] — Vision I : The 
Servant of Jehovah Delivered [xl. 12-xlviii] — Vision II: The Servant 
of Jehovah Awakened [xlix-1] — Vision III: The Awakening of Zion 
[li-lii. 12] — Vision IV: The Servant of Jehovah Exalted [Hi. 13-liii] 
— Vision V : Songs of Zion Exalted [liv-lv] — Vision VI : Redemption 
at work in Zion [lvi-lxii]— Vision VII : The Day of Judgment [lxiii-lxvi]. 



350 APPENDICES 

uel — x. 5— xii Assyrian Invasion — xiii-xxvii A Cycle of 
Dooms — xxviii-xxxv Judgment and Restoration — xxxvi- 
xxxix Ministry under Hezekiah — xl-lxvi Rhapsody of Zion 
Redeemed. 

Jeremiah : i-vi The Prophet's Call and Manifesto — vii-x 
Miscellaneous — xi-xiii The Missionary Journey — xiv-xvii 
The Drought and other prophecies — xviii-xx Discourses 
founded on Pottery — xxi-xxiii Messages to Rulers — xxiv- 
xxix Occasional Prophecies — xxx-xxxi Prophecies of Resto- 
ration — xxxii-xlv Incidental Prophecies — xlvi-li Doom 
Prophecies — Hi Appendix. 

Ezekiel : i-xi Opening of the Message — xii-xiv The Seven- 
fold Token — xv-xix The Sevenfold Parable — xx. 1-44 
Judgment of the Inquiring Elders — xx. 45-xxiv Seven Last 
Words — xxv-xxxii Doom Prophecies — xxxiii-xlviii The Fall 
and the Restoration to come. 

TO ACCOMPANY CHAPTER X 

NEW TESTAMENT PROPHECY 

%* In the St. John volume of The Modern Readers Bible. 
St. John's Revelation. (Pages 312-326.) 

Prologue : Words to the Seven Churches [i-iii] . 

First Vision : The Sealed Book and the Lamb [iv-v]. 
Second Vision : The Seven Seals and the Powers of Judg- 
ment [vi-viii. 4]. 
Third Vision : The Seven Trumpets and Mystery of Prophecy 

[viii. 5-xi. i8»]. 
Fourth Vision : The Kingdom of the World becoming the 

Kingdom of Christ [xi. 19-xv. 4]. 
Fifth Vision: The Seven Golden Bowls; or, Mystery of 

Babylon [xv. 5-xix. 4]. 
Sixth Vision : The Word of God and the Thrones of Judg- 
ment [xix. 5— xx]. 
Seventh Vision : The Lamb's Bride, The New Jerusalem 
[xxi-xxii. 5]. 
Epilogue : Seven Last Words [xxii from 6]. 



APPENDIX II 

PROGRESSIVE STUDY IN BIBLICAL 
LITERATURE 



I. STORY STAGE 

Story is the natural literary food of the mind in its ele- 
mentary stage. It is moreover characteristic of Hebrew 
literature that the spirit of its whole history is expressed by 
stories. Hence the story literature of the Bible should be 
the commencement of all study for young people, or for others 
who, for various reasons, are unfamiliar with Scripture. To 
meet this want two additional volumes of The Modern Reader's 
Bible 1 have been prepared : — 

Bible Stories : Old Testament 
Bible Stories : New Testament 

The stories are in the language of Scripture, altered only by 
omissions. The arrangement is according to the natural divi- 
sions of Bible history : Genesis, The Exodus, The Judges, The 
Kings and Prophets, The Exile and Return; The Life of 
Jesus, Acts of the Apostles.* 2 To each section there is an 
introduction, indicating the bearing of the several stories 
on the general history. A few notes are added. — In the 
absence of these volumes selection may be made by a teacher 
with the aid of the preceding Appendix. 

Method of Study. — i. The first duty to a story is to love 
it, and nothing should interfere with this. — 2. Another use 
of stories is to light up portions of ancient history : the intro- 
duction and notes are intended to assist in this. — 3. Such 
stories lend themselves to moral and religious comment by the 
teacher; they make a text book for the study of human life. 

1 Macmillan, London and New York. Each volume 2/6 (England). 
50 cents (America). 

- 2 Each part may be procured separately in paper covers. 

353 



354 APPENDICES 



II. MASTERPIECES STAGE 

But story is only a single form of literature ; other literary 
forms — oratory, wisdom (or philosophy), lyrics, rhapsody 
(or drama) — need more study for their appreciation. The 
best way to appreciate a type of literature is carefully to 
study a few masterpieces illustrating it. Hence a special vol- 
ume of The Modem Reader's Bible has been prepared : — 

Biblical Masterpieces * 

As the title implies, it is a collection of masterpieces of biblical 
literature, illustrating five leading forms of literature, with 
introduction and notes. In this case it is desirable that the 
whole class should have the volume in their hands, as it is a 
question, not only of selection, but of the structural printing 
that represents the exact literary form to the eye. 

Method of Study. — The general purpose is to carry famili- 
arity with these selected masterpieces to the furthest point, 
short of wearying the student. — i. Memorising is good, if it 
is not distasteful. — 2. Vocal illustration is a great power in 
literary study. Every teacher should be a good reader ; and 
the volume may be used as a reading book in the study of 
elocution. — 3. Use should be made of structural and dra- 
matic reading. For example, in pieces that are fully dramatic 
the parts of different speakers should be assigned to different 
members of the class. Or in (e.g.) Deborah's Song, boys 
might take Men's parts and the girls the parts of the Women. 
In the case of the doom form [e.g. p. 175, or 182] the teacher 
might read the Divine monologue- while the class give the 
lyric interruptions. Or in such an ode as that on pages 
205-208, the teacher might take the prophet's prelude and 
postlude, half the class the strophe, the other half the antistro- 
phe.. and the whole class the epode. Where there is nothing 
more than divisions by stanzas, it is well to distribute these 

1 Macmillan : English price, 2/6; American, 50 cents. 



APPENDICES 355 

among different readers. — Literary effect depends, to a greater 
degree than many people think, upon the emphasis of struc- 
ture ; and this is the more necessary in biblical literature as 
the traditional use of Scripture has entirely ignored it. 

III. BOOK STAGE 

Here the object is to deal with a book of Scripture as a 
continuous and independent whole. The selection may be 
left to the taste of teacher or students. Some very miscella- 
neous books (e.g. Psalms, Proverbs} hardly lend themselves 
to this treatment ; books of prophecy however, although mis- 
cellanies, may be unified by personality of the author. An 
important principle underlies this stage of literary study : the 
distinction between what may be called the Interpretation of 
Exegesis (or Commentary) and the Interpretation of Perspec- 
tive. The effect of the first is to emphasise details at the 
expense of the general effect of a literary work. The second 
lays stress upon successive rapid readings of a work, until 
difficulties of detail have vanished in the light of the whole. 
Both are good; but the method of commentary has been 
over-emphasised in Bible study, until many people think of 
Scripture as a collection of verses rather than of books. 

Method of Study. — i. Read the book at a single sitting. 
This is often more practicable than might at first appear, if 
the book has been prepared for such reading. Thus in Deu- 
teronomy, by omitting, or rapidly skimming, the prefatory 
matter and Book of the Covenant it is possible to bring the es- 
sential literature of the book — the orations and songs — within 
the compass of a single reading. Similarly, it is well to omit 
the miscellaneous sayings of Ecclesiastes in endeavouring to 
catch the argument of the whole. It is specially advantageous 
if a teacher can give students their first impressions of a book 
by an Interpretative Reading, which, by union of quotation, 
comment, description, brings the whole content in condensed 
literary force within the limit of a single lesson. — 2. Next 



356 APPENDICES 

study the work in detail, with notes or other aid. seeking to 
understand everything, but not dwelling too long at a time 
on any difficulty, lest it grow out of proportion to its place in 
the general perspective of the book. — 3. Then read the book 
again at a sitting, and repeat this many times ; for the greater 
the literature is the oftener will it bear reading. I have come 
across an individual — not a biblical scholar, but a layman — 
who claimed to have repeated his one-sitting readings of Job 
five hundred times! 

IV. LITERATURE STAGE 

The student is now prepared to study biblical literature as a 
whole, or types of literature — lyrics, philosophy, etc. — as 
wholes. Here choice may be made between two different 
lines of study, of which I have prepared text books, viz. the 
present volume, and the larger work entitled The Literary 
Study of the Bible. x Both these works cover the same ground : 
the difference is that the one is shorter and gives more promi- 
nence to the matter of Scripture : the other is longer, and lays 
stress on literary technicalities. 

A. Literary Sequence 
To this study the present volume is a text book : and the 
arrangement of reading has been given in the preceding 
Appendix. 

B. Literary Form 
For this the text book is The Literary Study of the Bible: 
An Account of the Leading Forms of Literature represented 
in the Sacred Writings. The natural order of study would 
be as follows : — 

Preface. Introduction, and Book First : stating and illus- 
trating foundation principles of literature. 

1 London, Isbister & Co. (price 10/6) ; Boston, D. C. Heath ft Co. 
(price $2). Second edition, 1899. 



APPENDICES 357 

[Appendix III on Metrical Structure.] 

Book Second: Lyrics: with Table I of Appendix II, so 

that each division of lyric poetry may be studied in the 

light of the examples illustrating it. 
Book Third: History and Epic: with Tables II and III 

of Appendix II. 
Book Fourth : Rhetoric : with Table VI of Appendix II. 
[Table VII of Appendix II : Epic and Lyric Idyl.] 
Book Fifth : Wisdom : with Table IV of Appendix II. 
Book Sixth : Prophecy : with Table V of Appendix II. 

Appendix I, the Literary Index to the Bible, should through- 
out be kept in view, as giving exact divisions of the liter- 
ary content of the Bible. This however is superseded if the 
volumes of The Modern Readers Bible are used, in which all 
these divisions of structure are presented to the eye. 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF 
SCRIPTURE 





Genesis 






/ 


PAGES 










PAGES 


i. 8-vi. 13 




334 


As a whole 




15- 


-19, 


21, 333-334 


vi. 14-27 




334 


i-xi 








23-25, 333 


vi. 28-xi 




334 


iv. 23 








239 


vii. 1 




258 


ix. 25 








239 


xii. 1-20 




334 


xii-1 








25-3°, 333 


21-39 




334 


xii. 1-9 








333 


xii. 40-xiii. 


16 


334 


10-20 








28, 333 


xiii. 17-xv. 


21 


334 


xiii-xiv 








25-26, 333 


XV 


220-221, 347 


xv-xvii 








26-27, 333 


XV. 22-xix 




33 


xviii-xix. 28 








26, 333 


xix-xxiv 




33-35 


XX 








28, 333 


xix. 3-xx. 21 


334 


xxi. 1-21 








334, 26-27 


xx. 22-xxiv. 


II 


334 


xxii. 1-19 








27,334 


xxiv. 12-xxxi 


334. 36 


20-24 








333 


xxxii-xxxiv 




334- 33-35 


xxiii 








29-30, 334 


xxxv-xl 




334- 36 


xxiv 








28, 334 








xxv. 1-6 








333 




Leviticus 




12-20 
xxvii. 1-40 

27 
xxvii. 41-xxxiii 
xxxv. 23-26 
xxxvi 
xxxvii. 2-36 




15 


333 
27-28, 334 

239 
28-29, 334 

333 

333 

-19, 30, 334 


As a whole 

i-vii 

viii-x 

xi-xvi 

xvii-xxvi 

xxvii 




21. 334 
335- 37 
335- 37 
335, 37 
335- 33-35 
335. 37 


xxxix. i-xlvi 
xlvi. 8-27 


7 




15 


-19. 3°. 334 
333 




Numbers 




xlvi. 28-xlvii 


12 




15 


-19. 30, 334 


As a whole 




21, 334-335 


xlvii. 28-I 








30. 334 


i-ii 




335 




Exodus 




i. 20-44 
iii-iv 




36-37 
335 


As a whole 






21 


, 30-40, 334 


v-vi 




335 


i. i-5 








334 


vii 




335 


i. 8-xv 








31-33 
3. 


viii 
59 




335 



360 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 





PAGES 






PAGES 


ix-xxxvi 


35 


v. 13-vi 




336, 46 


ix. 1-14 


335 


vii-viii 




336, 46 


xv. 1 -3 1 


335 


ix 




336, 46 


3 2 -36 


335. 37 


x. 1-27 




336. 46 


37-41 


335. 37 


xii 




336 


xvi-xviii 


335, 37 


xiii-xxii 




336 


xix 


335- 37 


xxiii-xxiv 




336, 47 


xx-xxi 


38 








xxii. 2-xxiv 


335. 38-40 




Judges 




xxiii. 7 


239 


As a whole 


21, 45, 47-52, 336-337 


8 


125 


i-iii. 6 




47-48 


xxvi 


335 


iii. 12-30 




336, 48 


xxvii. 1-11 


335. 37 


iv-v 


336, i-s, 48- 


-49, 22i, 347 


xxviii-xxix 


335 


vi-viii 




337. 49-5° 


XXX 


335 


ix 




337, 51-52 


xxxi 


335, 37 


x. 6-xii. 6 




337, 5o 


xxxii 


335 


xiii. 2-xvi 




337, 50-51 


xxxiii. 1-49 


335 


xvii-xviii 




337, 52 


xxxiii. 50-xxxiv 


335 


xix-xxi 




337, 52 


XXXV 

xxxvi 


335, 36 
335, 37 


As a whole 


RUTH 


337, 53- 2 48 


Deuteronomy 








As a whole 11, 


22, 40-45, 291, 336 




I Samuel 




i. 1 


40-41 


As a whole 


337, 2i, 45- 53-56 


2 


336 


i-iv 




53 


i. 6-iv. 40 


336, 41 


i-ii. 11 




337 


ii. 10-12 


336 


ii. 12-iv 




337 


20-23 


336 


v-vii. 1 




337, 53-54 


iii. 9 


336 


viii-xvi 




54 


11 


336 


viii-xii 




337 


14 


336 


xiii. 15-xiv. 


46 


337 


v-xi 


336, 41-42 


XV 




337 


x. 6-9 


336 


xvi-xxxi 




54-56 


xii-xxvi 


336, 12, 41 


xvi. 1-13 




337 


xxvii 


42 








xxviii 


336, 42-43 




11 Samuel 


xxix-xxxi 


336, 43 


As a whole 


21 


45, 337-338 


xxxi. 14-xxxii 


336,44 


i 


337, 56, 


77, 238, 347 


xxxiii-xxxiv 


336, 44-45 


ii-x 
vi 




57 
Tj, 221-225 


Joshua 


xi-xx 




58-59 


As a whole 


21, 45, 46-47, 336 


xi. 2-xii, 25 




337 


ii 


336, 46 


xiii-xx. 22 




337 


iii-iv 


336, 46 


xx. 23-26 




337 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



361 



XXll 

xxiii 

xxiii. 8-39 
xxiv 



PAGES 
58,77 
58,77 

337 
337- 57 



I Kings 

As a whole 337~338, 21, 56-57 

i-ii. 11 59 

ii. 12-xi 59-60 

iv. 1-20 338 

vi-vii 338 

xi-xii 60 

xiii. 1-32 338, 60-62 

xv. 1-8 78 

xvii-xix 338, 62-64 

xx 338, 64-65 

xx. 23 305 

xxi 338, 65 

xxH 338, 64-65 



II Kings 



As a whole 
i. 1-16 
ii-viii. 15 
ix-x 

x. 28-xvii 
xi. 1-20 
xiii. 14-21 
xviii-xxv 



338, 2i, 56-57 

338, 65 

338, 65-67 

67-68 

68 

68 

338 

338, 69 



I Chronicles 

As a whole 339, 21, 75-79 

i-ix. 34 339 

ix. 35-44 339, 77 

xi. 10-xii 339 

xiii 221-225 

xv-xvi 77, 221-225 

xvi. 8-36 77 

xvii-xxix 77 

xxiii-xxvii 339 

II Chronicles 
As a whole 339, 21, 75-79 

339 

78 



111. i-v. 1 







PAGES 


xv. 13-14 




79 


xxxiii 


Ezra 


77 


As a whole 


339, 


340, 75-76, 79 


i-5 
i-vi 




75 
79-80, 339 


ii 




34o 


vii-x 




8o, 339 


viii. 1-14 




339 


x. 18-44 




339 



Nehemiah 

As a whole 339~34°, 75-76, 80 

i-vii. 5 8o, 339 

vii. 6-73 340 

vii. 73-x 339 

xi-xii. 26 340 

xii. 27-xiii 80-81, 340 

Esther 
As a whole* 70, 74-75, 338 

Job 

As a whole 123, 133, 147, 164-186, 

344-345 
i-ii 344, 165-166, 181-186 

iii 344, 165-166 

iii. 13 171 

iv-xiv 345, 167, 168-169 

xiv-xix 169-172 

xiv. 18-22 170 

xv-xxi 345, 168 

xxi 172-174, 345 note 1 

xxiv 174-176 

xxii-xxx 345, 168 

xxvi. 2-4 345 note 2 

xxxi 345 

xxxii-xxxvii 345, 166, 168 

xxxvi. 22-xxxvii 176 

xxxviii-xlii. 6 345, 176-180 

xxxviii. 7 182 

xl. 7-14 177 

xiii. 7-17 181-182, 345 



362 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



P. 


5ALMS 




PAGES 




PAGES 


xlviii 


347 


As a whole 


347. 240 


xlix 


347 




347 


1 


348, 246 


ii 


347 


li 


348, 241 


iii 


343, 244 


lii 


347 


iv 


348 


liii 


348 


V 


348 


liv 


348 


vi 


348 


lv 


348 


vii 


348 


lvi 


348 


viii 


347 


lvii 


348, 243 


ix-x 


348 


lviii 


347 


xi 


347 


lix 


347 


xii 


348 


lx 


347 


xiii 


348 


Ixi 


348 


xiv 


348 


lxii 


347 


XV 


347. 197 


lxiii 


348 


xvi 


347 


lxiv 


348 


xvii 


348 


lxv 


347 


xviii 


347. 58. 77, 240 


lxvi 


347 


xix 


347 


lxvii 


347 


xx-xxi 


347 


lxviii 


347 


xxii 


348, 241-243 


lxix 


348 


xxiii 


347, 240 


Ixx 


348 


xxiv 


347, 223-224 


lxxi 


348 


XXV 


347 


lxxii 


347 


xxvi 


348 


lxxiii 


347 


xxvii 


348, 247-248 


lxxiv 


348 


xxviii 


348 


lxxv 


347 


xxix 


347 


Ixxvi 


347 


XXX 


347, 222 


Ixxvii 


348 


xxxii 


348 


lxxviii 


347, 229-230 


xxxiii 


347 


lxxix 


348 


xxxiv 


347 


Ixxx 


348, 238 


XXXV 


348 


lxxxi 


347 


xxxvi 


347 


lxxxii 


348, 182-183 


xxxvii 


347 


lxxxiii 


347 


xxxviii 


348 


1 xxxiv 


347, 237-238 


xxxix 


348 


lxxxv 


348 


xl 


347 


lxxxvi 


347 


xli 


348 


lxxxvii 


347 


xlii-xliii 


348 


lxxxviii 


347 


xliv 


348 


lxxxix 


348 


xlv 


347 


xc-xci 


347 


xlvi 


347 


xcii 


347 


xlvii 


347 


xciii 


347 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



363 











PAGES 








PAGES 


xciv 








347 


vi. 1-5 






342 


xcv-c 








347 


6-11 






342 


ci 








347. 225 


12-19 






342" 


cii 








348 


20-35 






342 


ciii-civ 








347 


vii-viii 




342 


, I45-I46 


cv 








347. 229 


ix 






342 


cvi 








347. 230 


x-xxii. 16 






342, 137 


cvii 




347 


127 


-128, 231 


xxi. 6 






. 139 


cviii 








347 


xxii. 17-xxiv 






342, 137 


cix 








348 


xxiii. 19-21 






134 


ex 








347 


29-35 






342 


cxi-exviii 








347 


xxiv. 19-20 






I 4 I 


cxviii 








226-228 


3o-34 




342 


. 134-135 


cxix 








347 


xxv-xxix 






342, 137 


exx-exxxiv 




347. 


232-237, 240 


xxx-xxxi 






342, 137 


exxxii 


347 


224 


-225, 236-237 


xxx. 1-4 






342 


exxxv 








347 


7-9 






342 


exxxvi 








347. 228 


11-14 






342 


exxxvii 








348 


' 15-16 






342 


exxxviii 








347 


18-19 






342, 138 


exxxix 






348 


244-246 


21-23 






342 


cxl 








348 


24-28 ' 






342 


cxli 








348 


29-31 






342 


cxlii 








347 


xxxi. 10-31 






342 


cxliii 








348 










cxliv 








348 
347 










cxlv-cl 








ECCLESIASTES 














As a whole 


132, 


146- 


•155. 155. 




Proverbs 






164, 


i94. 


344 


As a whole 


13 2 . 
198, 


136- 
342 


146, 


146-147, 


i. 2-1 1 
12 






344, 149 
147-148 


i-ix 








342, 137 


i. 12-ii 




344 


, 149-iSi 


i. 10-19 








342 


iii. i-iv. 8 




344 


151-152 


20-23 








342 


iv. 9-v. 9 






344 


ii 








342 


v. 10-vi. 12 






344. 152 


iii. 1-10 








342 


vii. 1-22 






344 


11-20 








342 


2 






197 


19-20 








143 


vii. 23-ix. 16 






344. 152 


21-26 








342 


ix. 17-xi. 6 






344 


27-35 








342 


xi. 7-xii. 7 




344 


. 152-153 


iv. 1-9 








342 


xii. 8-14 






344. 153 


10-19 








342 










18-19 








143 


The Song of 


Songs 


20-27 








342 










V 






- 


342 


As a whole 


123 


248-257. 348 



364 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



Isaiah 





PAGES 


As a whole 


II, 123, 124, 285-289, 




3pb-3°7, 349-35° 


i-vi 


349, 286-287 


vii-x. 4 


349, 287-288 


viii. o-ix. 7 


349 


x. 5-xii 


350, 288, 349 


xiii-xxvii 


350, 288-289 


xiii-xiv. 23 


348, 264 


xiv. 24-27 


348 


28-32 


348 


xv-xvi 


348 


xvii. 1-11 


348 


12-14 


349 


xviii 


349 


xix 


348, 265 


XX 


349 


xxi-xxii. 14 


349. 265-6 


xxiii 


348 


xxiv-xxvii 


349 


xxviii-xxxv 


35o. 289 


xxxiii 


349 


xxxvi-xxxix 


350, 285, 350 


xl-lxvi 22, 


82, 87-88, 274-284, 349 


xl. I-II 


349 note. 274-276 


xl. 12-xMii 


349 note, 83-86, 276-277 


xlix-1 


349 note, 86, 277-278 


li-lii. 12 


349 note, 278-279 


lii. 13-liii 


349 note, 279 


liv-lv 


349 note, 279-280 


lv 


86-87 


lvi-lxii 


349 note, 280-282 


]xi. 1-3 


92 


lxiii-lxvi 


349 note, 282-284 




Jeremiah 


As a whole 


289-293. 349. 35° 



xvm. 4 
xxi-xxiii 
xxiv-xxix 
xxx-xxxi 

xxxii-x.v 

xlvi. 3-12 
14-28 

xlvii 
1 xlviii 

xlix. 1-6 
7-22 

23-27 
28-39 
Hi 



PAGES 

292 
35° 
35° 
35° 
35° 
35° 
348 
348 
348 
348 

349 
349 
343 
349 
348,265 



i-vi 

ii-vi 

vii-x 

xi-xiii 

xiv-xvii 

XIV— XV 

xviii-xx 



291. 350 
349, 291 

35° 
35°. 291 

35° 

349. 291 

350, 291-292 



Lamentations 
As a whole 348, 238-239 



EZEKIEL 

As a whole 261, 293-301, 349, 350 

i-xi 350 

i-iii 293-294 

ii. 8-iii. 3 301 

iv-v 296-297 

viii-xi 314 

xii-xiv 350 

xii. 17-20 295-296 

xv-xix 350 

xx. 1-44 350, 299 

xx. 45-xxiv 350 

xxi 297-298 

xxv-xxxii 350 

xxv. 1-7 349 

8-11 348 

12-14 349 

15-17 348 

xxvi-xxviii 348 

xxvii 299 

xxix-xxxii 348. 265 

xxxiii-xlviii 350 

xxxiii. 30 300 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



365 





Daniel 




Haggai 




PAGES 




PAGES 


As a whole 


70, 30I, 349 


As a whole 


307, 3o8, 349 


ii 


338, 70 
338. 71 


ZECHARIAH 


iii 


338, 7i-7 2 . l8 5 


As a whole 


307-310 


iv 


338. 72 


i-viii 


308-310, 349 


V 


338, 73 


i. 7-vi 


123, 308-310, 313 


vi 


338. 73-74 


ix-xi. 3 


310, 307-308, 349 




HOSEA 


xi. 4-17 
xii-xiv 


310, 307-308, 349 
310, 307-308, 349 


As a whole 

i-iii 

ix. 7-x 


301-303, 349 

302 
301 


As a whole 


Malachi 
310-311, 307-308, 349 


xi-xiv. 8 


302-303, 349 


Wrsrx 


im of Sot. in m hint 



Joel 
As a whole 123, 270-273, 315, 349 

Amos 
As a whole 
i. 1-2 
i. 3-ix 

Obadiah 
As a whole 349, 264 

Jonah 
As a whole 261, 304-306, 349 

MlCAH 

As a whole 306-307, 349 

i. 2-v 349, 307 

vi. 1-8 307, 349 

vi. 9-vii 7-8, 307, 349 

Nahum 

As a whole 261-264, 348 

Habakkuk 
As a whole 267-270, 349 

Zephaniah 
As a whole 273-274, 349 



315. 349 




155- 


-164, 199, 344 




i. 1-11 




344. I5S-I56 




i. 12-vi. 11 




344. 156-159 




vi. 12-ix 




344. I59-I6 1 


303-304 


viii. 1 




132 


303 


x-xi. 5 




344. 161 


349. 304 


xi. 5-xix* 




344, 161-164 



ECCLESIASTICUS 

As a whole 132, 136-146, 146-147, 
187-190, 194, 199, 342- 

344 

i-xxiii 342 

i. 1-20 343, 144 

ii. 7-18 343 

iii. 1-16 343 

17-28 343 

iv. 1- 10 343 

n-19 343 

20-28 343 

vi. 5-17 343. 136 

18-37 343 

vii. 19-36 343 

viii-ix. 16 343 

ix. 17-x. 5 343 

x. 6-xi. 6 343 

xi. 11-28 343, 188 

25-28 141 



xi. 29-xm. 24 



343 



366 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 





PAGES 








PAGES 


xiv. 3-19 


343 


iii. 12 






200 


xiv. 20-xv. 10 


343 


iv. 17-vii. 27 




346, 195-198, 200 


xv. 11-20 


343 


v. 3-12 






I96-I98 


xvi. 1-23 


343 


13-16 






I98 


xvi. 24-xviii. 14 


343 


17 






I98 


xix. 4-17 


343 


vi. 9-13 






8 


xix. 20-xx. 13 


343 


vii. 24-27 






I98 


xxii. 11-12 


343. 139 


vii. 28-ix. 34 






346, 202 


xxii. 27-xxiii. 6 


343 


ix. 35-xi. 1 






346, 202-203 


xxiii. 7-15 


343 


xi. 2-xii 






346, 203-204 


xxiv-xxxiii. 15 


342 


xiii. 1-52 






346, 204-205 


xxiv 


189 


xiii. 53-xvi. 


12 




346, 205-206 


xxvi. 7-18 


343 


xvi. 13-xx 






346, 206-207 


29 


135 


xxi-xxiii 






346, 207-208 


xxvii. 25-xxYiii. 11 


343 


xxiv-xxv 






346, 208 


xxviii. 12-26 


343 


xxvi-xxviii 






346, 208-209 


xxix. 1-20 


343 










21-28 


343 




St. 


Mark 


xxx. 1-13 


343 


As a whole 






9 1 


14-25 


343 










xxxi. 1-11 


343 




St. 


Luke 


xxxi. 12-xxxii. 13 


343 










xxxiii. 16-xxxix. 11 


343 


As a whole 






91-96, 341 


xxxiv. 1-8 


343 


i-iv. 13 






92, 34i 


*3-i7 


343 


iv. 14-ix. 50 






92-94, 341 


xxxiv. 18-xxxv 


343 


ix. 51-xix. 2.1 






94-95. 34i 


xxxvi. 21-26 


343 


xix. 29-xxiv 






95-96, 341 


xxxvii. 7-26 


343 


xxiv. 46-48 






96 


xxxvii. 27-xxxviii. 15 


343 










xxxviii. 16-23 


343 




St 


John 


xxxvii i. 24-xxxix. 11 


343. 190 


As a whole 






209-218, 346 


xxxix. 12-xlii. 14 


343 


i. 1-18 






346, 215-218 


xl. I-IO 


343 


i. 19-iv 






346 


11-27 


343 


v-xii 






346 


xli. 1-4 


343 


viii. 30-59 






211-212 


xlii. 15-I. 24 


343 


xiii-xvii 






346 


xlii. 15-xliii 


344 


xviii-xx 






346 


xliv-1. 24 


344 


xviii. 28-xix. 


16 




213-215 


1. 25-29 


■ 343 


xx. 30-31 






218 


li 


343 


xxi 






346 


St. Matthew 




Acts 




As a whole 


194-209, 346 


As a whole 




90-91, 96-97, 117- 


i-ii 


346 






118, 


34i 


iii-iv. 16 


346 


i-xii 






34i 



INDEX OF PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



367 



ll-Xll 

ii-v 

vi-ix. 31 

ix. 32-xii 

xiii-xviii. n 

xiii-xiv 

xv. 1-35 

xv. 36-xviii. II 

xviii. 12-xix. 20 

xix. 21-xxviii 



PAGES 

97 

98-IOI 

98-99 

99 

99-101 

341, 101-104 

101 

102 

102-104 

341, 104-110 

341, 110-113 



Romans 
As a whole 111-112, 341 

I Corinthians 
As a whole 107-109, 341 

II Corinthians 
As a whole 109-110, 341 

Galatians 
As a whole 106-107, 34 1 

Ephesians 
As a whole 113, 341 



11. 10 



122 



Philippians 



As a whole 114, 341 

COLOSSIANS 

As a. whole 113-114, 341 

I and II THESSALONIANS 
As a whole 105-106, 341 

I Timothy 



As a whole 
iii. 16 



II Timothy 



As a whole 
ii. 11 



"4. 34i 
US 



114. 34i 
"5 



TITUS 

PAGES 

As a whole 114, 341 

Philemon 
As a whole 114, 341 

Hebrews 
As a whole 11 1 note, 341 



James 



As a whole 
i. 12-27 
i. 25 
ii. 1-13 

12 

14-26 
iii. 1-12 

13^18 
iv. 1-10 
iv. 13- 



18 



345. 187-193. 198 

345, 190-193 

189 

345. 190 
189 

345 

345 

345. 190 

345 

345, 188-189 



I and II Peter 
As a whole 115-117, 34] 



I John 



As a whole 



345 



II and III John 
As a whole 341 

JUDE 
As a whole 115-117, 341 



Revelation 



As a whole 
i-iii 
iv-v 

vi-viii. 4 
viii. 5-xi. 1 i 
xi. 19-xv. 4 
xv. 5-xix. 4 
xix. 5-xx 
xix. 10 
xxi-xxii. 5 
xxii. 6-21 



312-326, 350 

35°. 317 

35°. 315. 318-319 

350, 315, 319-321 

35°. 3i5. 3 2 i-3 22 

35°. 315. 323-324 

350, 315, 324-325 

350, 315, 325 

3i5-3i6 

35°. 3i5. 3 2 5-326 

35°. 3 2 6 



GENERAL INDEX 



Acrostic : 239. 

Acts of Apostles, as division of 
sacred history: 90-91, 96-118, 

341. 

Acts (or Visions) , as divisions of 
drama : 267, 270, 280. 

Adversary (in Job) : 182. 

Alternating- Monologue : 302- 
303- 

Anthems : 220-248, 347 — dra- 
matic : 348, 247-248. 

Antiphonal : see under Struc- 
ture. 

Arch form : see under Structure. 

Ascents, Songs of: 347, 232-238. 

Asyndetic sentences : 8. 

Authorship of Ecclesiastes : 147- 
148. 

Ballad: 3. 

Beatitudes, The : 196-198. 

Bible : as a badly-printed book, 
9-10 — Bible reading : Appendix 
I — Progressive study in : Appen- 
dix II. 

Bible, Modern Reader 's : 10, 329- 
33°- 

Chapter and verse divisions : 9- 
10. 

Chorus : of Bridesmaids, 249, 253 
— Celestial, 278 — Men and 
Women, 3-5, 220-221 — Nations, 
279 — Ritual, 226-228 — Watch- 
men, 278, 282. 

Chronicles as a form of history : 

. 21,75-82,339-340. 



Church and World in Matthew : 
200-209. 

Church, New Testament, History 
of: 22, 89-118, 341. 

Classical as a technical term of 
literature : 316. 

Commandments, ten : 34. 

Commentary, Age of: 10. 

Covenant: the word, 23 — with 
Adam, 23-24 — Noah, 24-25 : — 
Abraham and Israel, 23-25 — 
under the Exodus, 33-35 — of 
Holiness, 34 — in Deuteronomy, 
12, 41 — under Ezra and Ne- 
hemiah, 81-82. 

Criticism as a form of Bible 
study : 2 — compare 1-12, 329. 

Dance as a source of lyric poetry : 

219-220 — compare 220-231. 
Darkness, Plague of, in Wisdom : 

162-163. 
Dialectic, a feature of style in 

wisdom literature : 210-215 — in 

prophecy: 310-311. 
Digression, a feature of style in 

Wisdom : 158, 159-160, 163-164. 
Dirge (or wail) : 238. 
Discourse : in wisdom literature, 

155-164, 344, 345 — in prophecy, 

259 — rhapsodic, 273-274, 349. 
Disputation (in John) : 210-215. 
Division of speeches in Job : 345 
— of prophetic books: 307-308, 

349-35°- 
Documents, an element of Bible 
history : 19 (compare lists, 333- 



309 



370 



GENERAL INDEX 



340) — structural printing of, 35- 

37- 

Doom form : 274, note 1 (com- 
pare 273-274, 274-276, 310) — 
Doom prophecies : 261-266, 
288-289, 292, 298 (compare list, 
348-349). 

Drama as a division of poetry : 
219. 

Dramatic form and interpreta- 
tion : 6-8 — Dramatic Lyrics : 
243-248, 348. 

Echoing-, an effect in classical 
literature : 316 (compare 317- 
326). 

Eirenicon: 102. 

Elegies : 238-239, 347-348. 

Emblem prophecies : 292, 295- 
299, 302, 307, 310 — Vision em- 
blems, 309, 313. 

Envelope figure : 8-9. 

Enveloping" vision : 309. 

Epic, as a division of poetry : 219 

— in biblical and other literature : 
18 — Epic prophecy : 304-306, 
56-57- 

Epigram as a form of wisdom 
literature : 133-134. 

Epilogue: to Ecclesiastes, 147, 
153 — Job, 164-165, 181-182 — 
Old Testament history, 22, 82- 
88,340 — Revelation, 326, 350 — 
Zechariah's Vision, 310. 

Epistles : place in New Testa- 
ment history, 90-91, 96-97, 104- 
118 (compare list, 341) — Episto- 
lary manifesto, 113-114, 115-116 

— Missionary Epistles, 104-118 

— Epistolary Treatise, 111 — 
Wisdom Epistles, 187-193, 342, 

345- 
Essay as a form of wisdom litera- 
ture : 135-136 (compare lists in 
Appendix, 343-345) — Essays of 
Ecclesiastes, 149-155 — of Eccle- 



siasticus and St. James, 188- 

193- 
Europe, evangelisation of: 103, 

34i- 
Exile, The, as a division of sacred 

history : 21, 70-75, 338. 
Exodus, The, as a division of 

sacred history: 21, 30-40, 334- 

335- 

Fable, of Jotham : 51. 

Pan, winnowing, a fundamental 
conception in Matthew: 200 
(compare 200-209). 

Festal, Hymns : 347. 

Folk song of Sword : 298. 

Fool in wisdom literature : 139. 

Form as distinguishing literary 
study : 2 (compare 1-12) — essen- 
tial connection with interpreta- 
tion : 6-10 — literary forms in 
wisdom literature : 133-136, 146- 
147. 

Genesis as a division of sacred 
history : 21, 25-30, 333-334. 

Gentiles, evangelisation of: 100- 
101, 341. 

Gods as viceroys of God : 182-183. 

Gomer, prophecy of : 302. 

Greek influence on biblical wis- 
dom : 209 (compare 209-215). 

History: distinguished from story 
in biblical literature, 15-18 — 
sacred narrative as history and as 
literature, 19-22 — constitutional 
history, 21, 30-31, 33-38 — eccle- 
siastical history, 21, 75-82 — phil- 
osophical history, 21 — wisdom 
history, 198-199 (compare 199- 
209). 

History of the New Testament 
Church as presented by itself: 
22, 89-118, 341. 



GENERAL INDEX 



371 



History of the People of Israel as 
presented by themselves : 20-22, 
23-88, 333-340- 

Holiness, Covenant of: 34. 

Horeb, message of a key to the 
history of kings : 63-68. 

Humanists : 131. 

Humours in wisdom literature : 

137. 
Hymnology, Christian, in New 
Testament epistles : 115. 

Idyl as a literary term : 248 — 
lyric idyl of Solomon 's Song, 248- 
2 57> 348 — story idyl of Ruth, 248, 
53- 337- 

Imagery : distinguished from 
symbolism, 256-237 — concealed, 
271 — sustained, 298-299. 

Immanuel, sign of: 287-288. 

Immortality, idea of, in wisdom 
literature : 154-155, 156-159, 169- 
172. 

Interruptions in the dialogue of 
Job : 173-174, 345 note 1 — par- 
enthetic (in prophecy), 304 
note. 

Intervention, Divine, in Job : 
176-181, 345. 

Israel as a personage in Zion 
Redeemed : 278. 

Jerusalem, Inauguration of: 
221-225. 

Jesus : as a great master in litera- 
ture, 194-195 — life of, a division 
of sacred history, 91-96, 341 — 
wisdom of Jesus, 195. 

Jesus, son of Sirach : 137. 

Journey : Missionary, 101-104 
— of Jeremiah, 291, 350 — of 
Paul, 102-103. 

Judges, The, as a division of 
sacred history: 21, 45-56, 336- 

337- 
Judgment, use of the word in 



Old Testament: 141, 153, 282 — 
compare, 188. 

Kingdom of heaven, a root idea 

in Matthew : 198-209. 
Kings and Prophets, The, as a 

division of sacred history : 21, 

56-69, 337-338. 

Lamentations: 238-239. 

Law: in relation to wisdom, 189 
— Laws and Oblations in The 
Exodus, 37-38 — Law of 'the 
Ten Commandments, 34 — Book 
of the Law discovered, 69. 

Lectionary, Revised : 10. 

Litanies and Prayers : 348. 

Literary study of Scripture dis- 
tinguished from theology and 
criticism : 1-12. 

Liturgies : 347. 

Logos (in John) : 215-216. 

Lord's. Prayer: 8-9. 

Lyric Poetry of Bible : 219 and 
Chapter VII (compare Appen- 
dix, 347-348). 

Lyrics, Interrupting, in prophecy : 
274 note 1 (compare Doom form). 

Manifesto : Epistolary, 113-114, 
115-117 — prophetic, 291, 299, 
308. 

Maxim as a form of wisdom litera- 
ture : 135, 195-198, 216-217. 

Meditations, Lyric: see under 
Song. 

Ministry, Prophetic : 349. 

Miscellanies, of wisdom litera- 
ture: 131-132 (compare 133- 
136), 136, 146-147, 342-345. 
355— of prophecy: 285-311, 
349-350. 355- 

Missionary Journeys : 101-104, 
201, 202-203, 291, 341, 350 — Epis- 
tles: 104-105 (compare 105-118), 
34i. 



372 



GENERAL INDEX 



Monologue : as a form of lyric 
poetry, 239-248, 348 — Alternat- 
ing monologue in Hosea, 302- 

303 — Divine monologue in doom 
prophecy, 273-274, 274 (note 1) , 
310. 

Movement, poetic, forms of : see 

Structure. 
Mystery, use of the word in 

Scripture: 205. 

Narrative, Scripture, as history 
and as literature : 19-22. 

National anthems : 228-231. 

Number sonnets : 138 (compare 
list, 342). 

Oblations and Laws in The 

Exodus : 37-38, 335. 
Occasional poetry : 347. 
Ode as a form of lyric poetry : 220- 

221 (compare 3-5), 347. 
Oracle : 303. 
Ordinances in The Exodus: 

37-38. 

Palestine, evangelisation of: 98- 

99- 34i. 
Parables of Jesus: 93-95, 194- 

195,204-205 — ofjotham: 51. 
Parenthetic interruptions (in 

prophecy) : 304 note — prefaces : 

304 note. 

Pendulum movement: see 
Structure. 

Philippics, prophetic: 261. 

Pilgrim's Hymn-book, The: 232- 
237 (compare 237-238). 

Poetry distinguished from prose : 
121-122, 313 — in biblical litera- 
ture, 123-129. 

Postlude : 269, 270. 

Prayers and Litanies in the 
psalter: 348. 

Prefaces, parenthetic : 304 note. 

Preludes: 269, 274-276. 



Printing 1 of the Bible : see under 
Structure. 

Processionary ode : 220-221. 

Progressive Study in biblical 
literature : 351-357. 

Prologue : to Ecclesiastes, 147, 
149, 153 — to Job, 164-165, 181- 
186 — to Old Testament history, 
23-25, 333 — to St. John's Gospel, 
215-218 — to Revelation, 317, 350 

— to Zechariah's Vision, 309. 
Prophecy as an institution of 

Israel: 21,53-54, 56-62,312-313 

— prophets as poets : 260, 123- 
124. 

Prophecy as a branch of litera- 
ture : general conception, 258- 
260 — special forms of prophetic 
literature: 260-284 — Old Testa- 
ment prophecy: 285-311 — New 
Testament prophecy : 312-326. 

Prophecy, various forms of: the 
Call, 285, 287, 291, 293-294, 300- 
301 — Dialectic, 310-311 — Dis- 
course, 259-260 — Dramatic dia- 
logue, 7, 307 — Doom, 261-266, 
273-274, 276, 288-289, 2 9 2 > 
298-299, 299, 310 — Emblem, 
295-299, 302 — Epic (or Story) , 
56-57, 304-306 — Manifesto, 
291, 299, 308 — Oracle, 303 — 
Response, 308 (compare 294) 

— Revelation, 312-326 — Rhap- 
sody and Rhapsodic Discourse, 
267-281 — Sentences, 259, 301 

— Story (or Epic), 56-57, 304- 
306 — Vision, 308-310 (also see 

Vision) . 

Prose and Verse in biblical lit- 
erature : 10, 121-122, 123, 124- 
125. 

Prosperity of the wicked, in 
wisdom literature: 140-141,152, 
156-159, 172-176. 

Proverb as a form of wisdom 
literature : 133, 194. 



GENERAL INDEX 



373 



Redeemer, The, in Zion Re- 
deemed : 281-282. 

Refrains : 127, 250-251, 252. 

Return, The, as a division of 
sacred history : 21, 78-82, 339- 
340. 

Rhapsody, Rhapsodic Dis- 
course, as forms of prophetic 
literature : 267-284 (compare list 

349)- 

Ritual anthems : 225-228 (com- 
pare 221-225) , 347. 

Rome, St. Paul and: 110-117, 
34i- 

Satan, in Job and elsewhere : 182- 

184. 
Satires, prophetic : 261. 
Scene, change of, in Job : 176. 
Scepticism in Ecclesiastes : 154. 
Sentences, prophetic : 259, 301. 
Sermon on the Mount : 195-198. 
Servant of Jehovah (in the 

Isaiahan rhapsody) : 277-280. 
Sevenfold : see under Structure. 
Signs, as used by St. John : 217 

— Prophetic, 287. 
Sluggard in wisdom literature : 

139- 

Social evolution in Job : 175-176. 

Song, or Meditation, as a form of 
lyric poetry: 220,231-238. (See 
list of songs, 347.) 

Sonnet as a form of wisdom litera- 
ture : 134-135, 153. (See lists of 
sonnets, 342, 343.) — Number 
Sonnets, 138, 342. 

Speakers in biblical monodies : 
240-243. 

Stanzas : 126. 

Story: distinguished from history, 
15 — relations of the two in bib- 
lical literature, 15-19 — Story (or 
Epic) Prophecy, 304-306, 349 
(compare 56-57) — Stories of 
Abimelech, 51-52 — Abraham, 



25-27, 28, 29 — Absalom, 59 — 
Achan, 46 — Balaam, 38-40 — 
Benjamite war, 52 — Burial of 
Sarah, 29-30 — Daniel, 70-74, 
301 — David and Bath-sheba, 58- 
59 — David and Saul, 54-56 — 
Deborah and Barak, 48-49 — Eli- 
jah, 62-64, 65 — Elisha, 64, 65-67 
— Esther, 74-75 — Exiles in Baby- 
lon, 70-74 — Feud of David's 
Children, 59 — Gibeonites, 46 — 
Gideon, 49-50 — Hagar, 26-27 — 
Isaac, 27-28 — Jael and Sisera, 
48-49 — Jehu, 67-68 — Jephthah, 
50 — Jonah, 304-306 — Jonathan, 
54 — Joseph, 15-19, 30 — Joshua, 
46-47 — Jotham, 51-52— Lot, 25- 
26 — Micah, 52 — Micaiah, 65 — 
Nehemiah, 80-81 — Old Prophet 
of Beth-el, 60-62 — Plagues of 
Egypt, 31-33 — Rahab, 46 — Re- 
bekah, 28-29 — Ruth, 53 — Sam- 
son, 50-51 — Samuel, 53 — Saul 
and David, 54-56 — Shadrach, 
etc., 71-72 — Others in Appendix, 

333~33 8 - 

Strange Woman, as a conception 
of wisdom literature : 145-146, 
156. 

Structure, literary: close con- 
nection with interpretation, 6-10 
(compare 147-148, 314-315) — 
expressed in printing, 9-10, 19, 
35-37, 128-129. Structure of 
Ecclesiastes, 146-148 — of Ezra 
and Nehemiah, 79-82. Types of 
structure: antiphonal, 3-5, 220- 
221, 226-228 — the arch form, 
272-273 (compare 265, 279, 288- 

289, 3 I 4-3 I 5. 3 2 3. 3 2 4- 3 26 ) — 
pendulum movement, 128-129, 
230, 261, 277, 283 — sevenfold, 
249-256, 265, 270-273, 274-284, 
299, 304, 3i4~3 I 5. 319. 3 z6 - 
Study, Progressive, in biblical 
literature: Appendix II, 



374 



GENERAL INDEX 



Suffering 1 , Mystery of, in Job: 184 
(compare 164-186). 



Taunt songs : 263, 269, 277. 

Temple service, anthems of: 220, 
221, 225-228. 

Testament, Old and New : 23. 

Texts in the Bible : 10. 

Themes, Songs on : 347. 

Theological study of Bible dis- 
tinguished from literary and criti- 
cal: 1-12. 

Vanity as a conception of wisdom 
literature: 132, 149-155, 160. 

Verse distinguished from prose: 
121, 124-125 — verse and prose 
in the Bible : 125-129. 

Verses (and chapters) in current 
versions of the Bible.: 9-10. 

Version : King James's, 10, 330 
— Revised, 10, 330. 

Viceroys of God: 182. 

Vision : as a form of lyric poetry 
246, 348 — as a term for prophecy 
in general, 285 — as a form of 
prophecy, 260 (compare 262,265- 
266, 269-270, 271, 282-283, 2 %7> 
289, 293-294, 300, 301, 308-310, 
313-326) — as a term for the 



divisions (or ' acts ') of a dra- 
matic prophecy, 267, 270, 274- 
284, 349 note 1 — Vision emblems, 
309, 313 — Enveloping vision, 309. 

Voices: in Job, 176 — in pro- 
phetic rhapsodies, 267 (compare 
265-266, 274-276). 

Votive hymns and anthems : 347. 

Wail (or Dirge) : 238. 

War, Hymns of: 347. 

Watchman, Prophetic: 265-266 
(compare 269, 278, 282). 

Whirlwind (in Job) : 176-181. 

Winnowing* fan, a root idea in 
Matthew: 200. 

Wisdom (or biblical Philoso- 
phy) : 130, 342-346, and Chap- 
ters V, VI — Old Testament 
wisdom : 342-345 and Chapter 
V — New Testament wisdom, 
345-346 and Chapter VI — Wis- 
dom of Jesus (Christ), 195 — 
Wisdom of Jesus the son of 
Sirach, 137. 

Witness, as used in John : 218. 

Word, The, as used in John : 215- 
216. 

World and Church in Matthew: 
200-209. 



The Literary Study 
of the Bible. . . . 

An account of the Leading Forms of Literature 
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for English readers. 

By RICHARD G. HOULTON, Ph.D., 

Professor of Literature in English in the University of Chicago. 

THIS book deals with the Bible as literature, without reference 
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Wisdom Literature. Book V: Biblical Literature of Prophecy. Book VI: 
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full-page illustrations by W. H. Lawrence. Cloth. 288 pages. Price, 
35 cents. 

Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. With introduction and notes by Wil- 
liam Henry Hudson, Professor in Leland Stanford Jr. L T niversity. Seven- 
teen full-page illustrations by C. E. Brock. Cloth. 300 pages. Price, 50 
cents. 

Scott's Ivanhoe. With introduction, notes, and glossary by Porter L. 
MacClintock, University of Chicago. Seventeen full-page illustrations 
by C. E. Brock. Cloth. 556 pages. Price, 50 cents. 

Dickens' A Tale Of Two Cities. With introduction and notes by Ham- 
ilton D. Moore, Indiana University. In preparation. 

Cooper's Last Of the Mohicans. Edited with aids to appreciation, by 
John G. Wight, Ph.D., Principal Girls' High School, New York City. 
With maps and illustrations. Cloth. 659 pages. Price, 50 cents. 

D. C. HEATH & CO., Publishers 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



"Feb -28 1901 



FEb 7 1901 



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